The Joanna Protocol
by judybrowneyes
Summary: When Joanna McCoy and her mother become victims of bio terrorism, Jim, Bones, and Spock, rush back to Earth to save Joanna and find who is behind this horrendous bio threat.
1. Chapter 1

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 1**

" **The difference between Despair  
And Fear—is like the One  
Between the instant of a Wreck  
And when the Wreck has been—"**

 **Emily Dickenson**

Jim sat in the Captain's chair, his yeoman at his right, signing off on various reports as she handed padds to him, one by one. He sighed. Reports were in the short list of his top three things that he hated about being Captain; no make that the top two things. On second thought, it was really the only thing he hated about being Captain of a Star Ship. However, needs must, so he was doing his Captainly best to do it quickly and efficiently. If he didn't Spock would be on him One. More. Time. about handing in his reports late and his yeoman would hover around him all day until he finished.

Uhura interrupted, (bless Uhura). "Captain, you have a priority call from Admiral Nogura, for your eyes only, Sir." '

Jim stood hurriedly, handing his last padd back to the yeoman. "We'll finish these later, Rand." To Uhura, "I'll take it in my ready room. Spock, you have the conn." Priority calls from The Old Man, were never a good thing, but anything was better than reports.

"Yes, Sir. Piping in now."

Jim walked into his ready room to his computer, keyed in his encryption code and waited for Admiral Nogura's face to appear. "Good morning, Admiral."

"Jim, good morning." The Admiral's usually inscrutable demeanor was missing; he looked worried. Also, his unusual lapse into informality, made Jim's stomach tighten with nerves. Nogura cleared his throat and looked at the screen. His eyes, Jim noted idly were cloudy with fatigue. _What the hell is going on?_ _Nothing good, that's for sure,_ thought Jim

"Is something wrong, Admiral?" Jim asked the question through a tight throat. This was not about a mission, or a briefing. Was it about his mother or Peter? He'd talked with them just before they left Sansora, but only something very serious would prompt Nogura to make a personal call.

"Yes, Jim. Something is very wrong," he said. Then quickly, as he saw Jim's face, "not with your mother or your nephew, Jim. As far as I know they're just fine."

Jim drew in a deep breath and relaxed infinitesibly. "Who?" He asked, his mind running rapidly through all his command crew's family."

"It's Joanna McCoy, Jim."

Jim closed his eyes and swallowed hard. " Is she…." He couldn't even say the words.

"She's alive, but things are bad, Jim. SFM contacted Fleet. It seems that Joanna McCoy and her mother, Jocelyn McCoy, have contracted a form of Choriocytosis. Ordinarily, it would not have attracted any attention at SFM, it's not usually that serious a diagnosis, just a more serious type of respiratory disease than, let's say, pneumonia; not life threatening to humans, only for Vulcans and other copper based humanoids."

"But…?" Jim's face was pale. There was much more here, he knew.

"Four days ago, Jocelyn McCoy and her daughter traveled off planet on a brief business trip. They traveled by public transport and came back three days later the same way. On the trip back, they both began to feel ill, and by the time they landed in Atlanta, at the shuttle port, they were both very sick, Joanna unconscious. A doctor was called to the terminal, did the preliminary tests, and identified it as Choriocytosis right away. He hospitalized them immediately, and began the antibiotic protocol, but when he did additional tests, he saw something he didn't like in the test results and put in a call to the Atlanta Federation Center of Disease Control. The AFCDC sent their top man. By that time, both Joanna and Mrs. McCoy were deteriorating rapidly; they were both in acute respiratory distress. Dr. Tyler made the decision to put them in a shallow coma with full respiratory support and in stasis. They're holding their own for now. He took blood samples, sputum samples, lung biopsies, and did every kind of test he could think of. We got the results today, Jim."

"Yes?" Jim's lips were stiff with dread.

"This is a whole different type of Choriocytosis. It has mutated, and not naturally. It was bio engineered. In Dr. Tyler's opinion, the virus was tampered with deliberately to make it lethal. Those people on the shuttle were the carriers, no telling how many people they could have infected if we hadn't moved so fast. We got in contact with all available agencies and doctors and rounded up every person on that shuttle within 16 hours. Thank goodness it was a small transport, only 12 people in it, and everyone they came in contact with has also been taken into bio protective custody. Fleet doctors were called in to help, including Tom Jeffries; We've had more cases become active, all from the same shuttle company, but so far none of the others. They've all been identified and been put in level 4 quarantine and are being given medical support. We've issued a Level 4 bio hazard alert to all the FCDC centers around the world. It looks like some sort of terrorist attack. As soon as Joanna's father was identified, I was called in by the head of the FCDC to advice, so we could decide on a plan of action."

Jim, still very pale, looked at the C in C. "What did you decide, Admiral?"

"We'd like Dr. McCoy to take charge of the medical and research side of the Bio Terrorist side of this, Jim. He's the expert on Choriocytosis. I know he won't be treating his own child or his ex wife, but he'll be on site to consult and head up the research teams. So far, that's the initial plan. I've arranged for Dr. McCoy to be picked up tomorrow morning and transported to SFMC."

"Admiral, I'd like to accompany Dr. McCoy to San Francisco if it's possible. Maybe I can help. We can also recruit Gavin Bradford from SIS. He helped us a lot in New York and on Vulcan." Jim didn't say more; just a small reminder of those two missions when Nogura had asked the impossible and Jim and his crew delivered. He willed Nogura to say yes. There was no way he was letting Bones go by himself.

Nogura nodded. "I assumed you'd like to be included in the investigation and accompany Dr. McCoy to support him. Do you know the child, Jim?"

Jim swallowed hard. "Yes, Sir. She's an adorable child. She calls me Uncle Jim."

"I'm sorry, Jim." He sighed. "Do you want me to tell Dr. McCoy?"

"No Admiral. I'll tell him."

"Captain, this is Need To Know only. You may tell Mr. Spock, since he'll be left in charge of the ship, but no one else unless it's imperative to share the information.

"Sir, had you thought of including Mr. Spock to help the Bio hazard Investigation Teams? He is one of the foremost Scientists in Star Fleet."

"I had not, Captain. However, you raise a good point. Mr. Spock has an illustrious list of research publications, and has done some ground breaking Scientific research. Can Mr. Scott handle things in both of your absences?"

"Yes, Sir. Our new orders are to map a new sector in the Delta Quadrant. It's a three to four week mission assignment. Stellar Cartography is preparing to begin in a few days."

"Very well, Captain. Brief Mr. Scott and Mr. Spock about your new orders. The three of you be prepared to board _The Magellan_ tomorrow morning at 0800 ship's time. They will transport you directly to SFM. I don't envy you, having to tell Dr. McCoy about his child, Jim." Nogura sighed. He was a grandfather several times over, and adored his grandchildren. "Nogura out."

Jim got up from his chair. His body felt stiff and cold. He straightened his tunic and exited the briefing room. He bypassed the bridge and headed straight for the Sick Bay. He was going to one of the hardest things he'd ever done in his life; tell his friend that his only child was possibly dying.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 2**

" **He that hath...children hath given hostages to fortune..."**

 **Francis Bacon**

Jim's heart felt heavy with dread, as he made his way to the Sick Bay. He entered to find it peaceful, quiet, and dimly lit, no crew member was ill or injured this morning. The nurses and techs were all quietly busy at their stations and when they saw him, smiled, saluted or waved at him. He couldn't bring himself to smile back. He spied Christine Chapel, sitting at her station working on her padds. She looked up, smiled, then the smile slipped from her face when she looked at him.

"Where's Bones, Christine?"

"In the back, doing some drug inventory. Is there something wrong, Captain?" Her blue eyes were wide with concern.

"Yes, something is very wrong." Jim sighed heavily. He knew the news about Joanna would be all over the ship by the time he, Bones and Spock left in the morning. There was no way to avoid it. They would need a cover story, but he saw nothing wrong in telling as much of the truth as was possible. "I just got a personal comm from Earth. Joanna McCoy is very sick. Bones needs to get back to Earth as soon as possible."

Christine paled. "Is it very bad?" she whispered. "It will kill Dr. McCoy if something happens to Joanna."

"It's bad. She's in the hospital and her doctors have put her in a light coma until the drugs she's been given start working, but they want Bones to come because Joycelyn, her mom is also sick, and can't really take care of Joanna." Jim's hazel eyes looked with anguish at Christine's blue eyes. "I have to tell Bones about Baby Girl. I didn't want him to hear it from a comm call."

"This will be so hard for him," she whispered. "He dotes on that child."

"I know he does, but don't worry, Chris. I won't let him go alone. Spock and I are going with him. I spoke personally to Admiral Nogura and he gave us permission to travel with Bones."

Christine looked worried, relieved and impressed all at the same time. "Thank God, you'll be with him. He'll need you, but you must have pulled several rabbits out of your hat to get the Admiral to agree to both you and Mr. Spock leaving the ship."

Jim looked grim. "There was no way I was letting Bones go alone and the Admiral owes this crew after New York and Vulcan. **1.** I just reminded him gently of the success of those two missions, and he saw the wisdom of my request and our upcoming stellar cartography mission is pretty routine."

Christine nodded. The crew knew how much Jim hated trading on his success and fame for himself, but for his crew he'd do whatever he had to do.

"Go on, then, Captain. It won't get any easier for waiting." She looked somberly at McCoy's office. "Do you want me to go in with you, or at least be available?"

"Thanks, Christine, but you know Bones won't want you to see him if he breaks down; it's that Southern pride of his," Jim smiled bleakly.

"I know, but if you need me, I'll be out here."

Jim nodded. He walked back to Bones' store room and stood at the door looking down at his best friend as he bent down to count his medical supplies. Was it Jim's imagination, or did Bones' bent back look more vulnerable and fragile all of a sudden. According to Dr. M'Benga, he was fully recovered from his injuries on Sansora, but suddenly Jim felt that perhaps this was not the case. Jim made a small noise, not wanting to startle his CMO. McCoy straightened up and turned to face the door. His face broke out in a big grin. "Hey Jim boy, what brings you to the bowels of Sick Bay?" His grin dimmed when he saw Jim's pale and somber face. "What's the matter, Jimmy? Is somethin' wrong?"

"Yeah, Bones. Something is wrong."

"Not with your mother, or Peter is it?" Bones asked, looking suddenly alarmed.

"No, they're fine," Jim said, swallowing hard. "Sit down, please."

Bones frowned, but did as he asked. "Who?"

"It's Joanna. Baby Girl is very sick, Nogura commed me a few minutes ago to tell me."

McCoy paled to a deathly hue; he looked stunned. He clutched at the padd in his hands, his knuckles turning white. "Joanna? But how, Jim. It's impossible! She's always been as healthy as a little horse, Jocelyn is meticulous about her health, her vaccinations, her eating habits. She looked great a couple of days ago, when I talked to her, you were there, you saw. She looked healthy and happy."

"I know, Bones," said Jim, thinking with pain about the adorable little girl who was always so happy to talk to her Uncle Jim. "But according to Admiral Nogura, there's a lot more to her sudden illness." He pulled up a chair directly in front of Bones, reached out, put a warm hand around McCoy's neck, and leaned in to pull their foreheads together. He felt Bones shudder.

"Tell me," he said.

Jim told him everything that the Admiral had shared with him. Bones' blue eyes looked shocked and horrified.

"Joanna is stable for now. The doctors have put her and Jocelyn in a medically induced coma and in stasis until they figure out what to do to help them. SFM wants you there to consult; you're the Federation expert on Choriocytosis. We're leaving in the morning for SFM; _The Magellan_ is picking us up at 0800."

"Us?" McCoy asked, his blue eyes hopeful. "Are you goin' with me?"

"Us," Jim answered firmly. "Do you think I'd let you go alone, Bones?" He got up and paced up and down. "I sort of offered to help out, to find out who's behind this and why, so I could go with you. We have to do all we can to help Baby Girl. I also volunteered Spock to help out with the Science end of it Nogura approved his going with us."

McCoy drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "Jim...I'm glad you're goin' with me, Spock too. No one's better with the research." McCoy looked down at his shaking hands. He had to pull himself together; Joanna and Joycelyn were depending on him. "I better get started with my packing and..."

"Bridge to Captain Kirk," Uhura's voice interrupted what Bones was going to say. Jim moved to the wall comm to answer. "Kirk here."

"Captain, I have a priority one squirt for you. Arrangements have been made for housing for you, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock at a SFM guest house. Location is being piped to your personal comm now." Uhura's voice was strictly professional devoid of curiosity as to why her Captain, his First Officer, and his CMO were leaving the ship. "Shall I send a confirmation, Sir?"

"Yes, please, Uhura, and call a meeting of the command crew in my briefing room in ten minutes."

"Jim," McCoy said, "I'll have to tell the Sick Bay staff why I'm leaving. I'll put Geoffrey in charge. He'll do fine, he's a great doctor. Christine will help him out."

"Christine already knows. I told her on my way in. You go ahead and brief the medical staff, and I'll be at the meeting with the command crew. You don't need to come to the meeting. The ship will do fine without us for this mission; it's a routine star mapping mission and I'll put Scotty in charge."

"I'm sorry to take you away from your ship, Jim." McCoy said softly, looking regretfully at his Captain. He knew how much Jim hated to leave someone else in charge of his beloved ship.

"Bones." Jim's hazel eyes looked into the troubled, worried blue ones. "The only important thing to me right now is getting Joanna well; and the only other important thing, is my being with you to help in any way I can. The ship and crew will be fine without me." He searched McCoy's face. "Will you be okay?"

"I will be, once I see Jo and we get started on finding the cure."

"Good. I'll see you after the briefing."

Jim walked to the lift, reviewing what he had to do before leaving and who to include in the Need To Know list. Scotty, of course, as Acting Captain in charge of the ship. Uhura needed to be included. She would be able to troll the All Worlds communication net for scuttlebutt about possible bioterrorism; she had many friends on many worlds and maybe someone had heard something. All the Command crew Jim decided, in case he and Spock needed some sort of backup for any reason. His crew was the very best in the fleet, and he trusted them implicitly.

He also had to let his mother know about Joanna being ill and that they'd all be back on Earth tomorrow. She would never forgive him if he didn't. She was very fond of Joanna. She and Peter had gotten to know the child well when she had visited the farm at Christmas; Peter and Joanna had become friends and the little girl had had a lovely time at the farm. Jim swallowed the lump in his throat, thinking of the adorable, energetic and affectionate little girl, now unconscious and terribly sick. Besides that, Winona and Peter loved Bones and Jim knew his mother would want to speak with him and offer what comfort she could.

He walked into the briefing room to find his command crew already waiting for him. All eyes turned to him, faces somber and worried. It was only mid morning, and Jim already felt like he'd run a marathon. "Good morning," he said. "I won't keep you waiting. Dr. McCoy will not be with us this morning. Admiral Nogura has given me some very tough news for him, and for me as well. Jocelyn and Joanna McCoy and ten other people were targets of a bio terrorism attack with a mutated form of Choriocytosis. " Looking at the shocked faces in front of him, he was struck that even Spock's usually impassive face, registered shock. Jim brought them up to date on the information Admiral Nogura had given him on the bio terrorism attack. " I haven't had time to tell Mr. Spock, but Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock and I will be leaving the ship and boarding _The Magellan_ tomorrow at 0800. My assignment is to find out who did this. Dr. McCoy's and Mr. Spock's assignments are with SFM; to find the cure for the bio engineered mutated virus. He looked at Scotty. "You'll have the con, Mr. Scott. Continue with the cartography mission, as we've planned. However, I need for the command crew to be on alert in case we need you."

"Aye, Captain. Dae' not worry about us, Sir. You just take care of our good doctor and his wee bairn. The ship will be fine."

"Mr. Sulu, Mr. Chekov, all of you, this is classified information. We don't want to start a panic on Earth or anywhere else. FCDCs on all Federation worlds have been informed and they're on alert." He looked somberly at his crew. "We'll do all we can to get to the bottom of this. Our main priority, are of course the patients, finding an antidote or a cure. Then it's finding the bio terrorists. Lt. Uhura, I need for you to use all your contacts to see if there's any scuttlebutt about the bio terrorist attack and who may be behind them. Anything at all that you hear, pipe it to me immediately and use my encryption code."

"Aye, Sir." Uhura made notes in her comm. Her contacts were extensive across the quadrant and she'd get started right after the meeting.

"Captain," she said, voicing everyone's concern. "How is Dr. McCoy?"

"He's hanging in there, Nyota. He'll be better once we're dirt side and he can see Joanna and begin working with the other doctors on the cure." Jim sighed. "As far as who did this, right now we don't have much to go on. My plan is to begin with the shuttle company and find out all we can about the company, the employees, their flight plans, who had access to the shuttle, and also investigate all the passengers, and the pilot."

"Captain," Chekov spoke up. "Is there any chance this could have been a suicide mission, that one of the passengers boarded the shuttle to infect everyone and take their own life?"

"A very good question, Mr. Chekov. That's why I've asked Admiral Nogura to recruit Commander Bradford from SIS to help us. He has access to many classified data bases that the rest of us don't."

"Captain, if I may, I would like to reach out to the Vulcan healers to see if they have anything of value on the disease to share. As you know, Choriocytosis is quite dangerous for Vulcans and other copper based species. The Vulcan healers and The Vulcan Science Academy have been working on a vaccine for many years...to no avail thus far, I am afraid," he added, "but perhaps some of their research may be of assistance to Dr. McCoy."

Jim looked at Spock, and saw the worry in the soft brown eyes. He and McCoy might argue and complain about, and to each other, but there was a deep respect between them and although they would die rather than admit it, there was affection and friendship as well. That someone would harm Joanna, McCoy's only child, was a deep personal affront to Spock and to all of them.

The briefing room door swished open, and Dr. McCoy walked in. Uhura jumped up and hugged him hard. "Leonard, we're all so sorry about Joanna." She stepped back and looked deep into the kind blue eyes, which were blurry and red from worry and unshed tears. "She's going to get better, Leonard. I know she is; and all of us are going to do all we can to find who did this to her and to the others."

McCoy patted her gently on her soft brown cheek. "I know you will, darlin'. Thank you, thank you to all of you." He slipped into his usual chair and sat back. "What did I miss, Jim?"

"Bones," Jim said gently. "You don't have to be here, Spock and I would have caught you up once we were on _The Magellan_. You need to get some rest. I doubt you'll get much once we get to SFM."

"Jim," McCoy said, swallowing hard. "I gotta' keep busy until we get back to Earth. I've already packed, and Chapel kicked me out of Sick Bay, so please just let me stay, okay?"

Jim shifted restlessly in his chair. The need to help Bones, to ease his worry and fear for Joanna filled him. He felt helpless and angry at the nameless monsters who would harm innocent beings and small children to achieve some vicious and misguided goal. "If that's what you want, it's fine. We're almost finished anyway."

"Does anyone have anything to add?" He looked around the table. Their worried and troubled eyes met his own. "Captain," Sulu spoke up. "If there's anything we can do to help the investigation, we'll do it. I'm only sorry we won't be on Earth to help you and Mr. Spock." He glanced at the doctor. "You do know, Dr. McCoy, that we'd all do anything for you and your family, right?

McCoy looked at his friends, and then down at his tightly clasped hands. "Yes, I do know that, Hikaru, and I thank all of you." He stood up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I think I will go try to get some rest now, Jim."

Jim nodded, his throat tight. "You're dismissed, Bones. I'll see you later."

"See y'all later."

There was silence after the doctor walked out the door. Jim stood up! "Damn it!" He said, and walked out the door after his friend.

* * *

 **1 see Ring of Treason and The Gift of Celebration**


	3. The Joanna Protocol Chapter 3

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 3**

' **Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world,**

 **and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world."**

 **The Talmud**

Jim faced McCoy's door. It opened immediately without his having to use his override code. He entered into the dim room and saw the doctor sitting on the edge of the bed, his head bowed down in his cupped hands.

"Bones." Jim put a warm hand on McCoy's shoulder. The doctor raised his head. His eyes were bleary, red rimmed; exhaustion evident in the lines of his face. "Jim. I'm sorry; I just walked out of the briefin.'"

Jim smiled. "You didn't just walk out, Bones. I dismissed everyone, remember?" He sat down beside McCoy. "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go to the officer's mess, where it's nice and quiet, and you're going to eat something. Then you're going to come back here and rest, maybe even take a nap."

"Is that an order, Captain?" McCoy had a tiny smile on his face as he looked at his Captain. Jim counted that tiny smile as a win.

"If it has to be, Dr. McCoy, I _will_ make it an order." He smiled his sweetest, most convincing smile, and reached over to curl his hand over the thin shoulder. "Seriously, Bones, you have to eat and rest. Joanna needs her daddy to be at his best so he can find a cure as quickly as possible."

McCoy shivered under Jim's hand. "What if I cain't, Jim? What if I cain't save Baby Girl? What if I don't find the cure?"

"Bones. Look at me." Jim turned to face his best friend, took the fine surgeon's hands in his own warm ones and looked deeply into the uncertain blue eyes. "You're the best surgeon, the best doctor in the fleet. You've fixed everyone on this boat, more times than I can count; you saved Sarek, Spock, me, the Horta, and more alien life forms than I can even recall. You can even cure a rainy day, remember? You and Spock and the rest of the medical team will find a cure for Joanna and Jocelyn. I'm as sure of that as I am of sitting here. Please, believe me, Bones; I'd never lie to you. You'll find the cure."

McCoy blinked rapidly, seeing the confidence shining in the hazel eyes; he patted Jim's hands gently, took a deep breath, and stood up. "Thanks, Jim. I needed to hear that and you're right. I need to be at the top of my game. I don't know how much food I can get down me, but I'll give it a try, so let's go get somethin' to eat."

They took the lift to the officer's mess, Jim walking close to the doctor in silent support. The officer's mess was empty, and they sat at a small table in the quiet room. Jim ordered a light meal for both of them. As they ate, he kept a close eye on McCoy and kept the conversation light; focused on ship topics and crew gossip. He also caught McCoy up on Winona's farm news and on Violet's newest letter about Davy's growth spurt and language explosion. **1**

Satisfied now that Bones had some hot food in him, Jim rose from the table and escorted him back to his cabin. "Rest is what you need now, Bones. Try to sleep for a little while at least. Come find me when you get up, I'll be in my cabin wrapping up some paper work and giving some last minute orders to Scotty and Uhura. Spock will have the conn this afternoon." He waited until McCoy slipped off his boots, his blue tunic and settled on the bed. "Lights 5 percent," Jim said softly and watched as the doctor let his eyes close in exhaustion. He knew it was worry and mental stress that depleted the body and mind, and that Bones would push himself to the point of collapse once they were back on Earth; Jim was determined to make sure that McCoy got some rest now while he could.

Back in his own quarters, Jim toggled his computer comm. "Yes, Captain?" Uhura's calm voice said.

"Lieutenant, please get me my mother on the horn."

"Yes, Sir. One moment please." Jim smiled when Uhura added, "it will nice to speak with Winona for a minute." Uhura adored Jim's mother and they had become firm friends.

Jim waited patiently until his comm beeped and his mother's smiling face came on the screen. "Jim, sweetheart! What a nice surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you until Thursday. I'm sorry, dear, but Peter is still at school."

"I know, Ma. That's why I'm comming you now, because we've had some very bad news about Joanna McCoy. I don't know if you'll want to share it with Peter or not."

"Joanna! What's wrong with her?" Winona's hazel eyes, exactly like her son's, widened in apprehension.

"It's bad, Ma." Jim told his mother about Joanna's and Jocelyn's illness, excluding that it had been a bioterrorism threat. "It's hit Bones very hard, Ma. I called in a favor from Admiral Nogura so Spock and I are going to Atlanta with Bones. Joanna and Jocelyn are there. We'll be with them tomorrow afternoon."

Winona looked at her son; even across the vast distance between them, he could see her knowing look. "Jim Kirk. What are you not telling me? Choriocytosis is not that dangerous a disease in humans. It's easily treatable with specific antibiotics. It's only dangerous for copper based species. The disease has mutated hasn't it? Otherwise Joanna and Jocelyn wouldn't have been put in stasis and you and Spock wouldn't be going with Leonard."

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, Ma! I should have known that you'd figure it out." He should never have underestimated his mother's prodigious intelligence or her Xenobiologist encyclopedic knowledge of many races, cultures and their diseases; or her ability to put two and two together. He sighed. _Need To Know_ , Nogura had specified. Jim considered; he might as well tell her the rest of it. With her past history and interactions with Admiral Nogura, he felt reasonably confident that the Admiral would agree it would be alright to tell Winona. **2**

Winona smiled serenely. "It's all right, sweetheart, just tell me. Whatever it is, you know it's safe with me. I've kept many Star Fleet and Federation secrets down through the years."

"All right, Ma, I'll tell you the rest of it; but first is you comm secure?"

"Of course it is, Jim. I do work for Star Fleet and the Federation after all. My comm has the highest security Star Fleet can install."

"Close the office door and lock it, Ma; and are the back and front door locked too?"

"The back and front doors are locked and so is my office door. I always lock them when I have to work in here. What's all this about? You're scaring me."

"It's much worse than just Joanna and Jocelyn." Jim told Winona everything Admiral Nogura knew about the bioterrorism attack and that they had no idea who was behind the attack. He also told her about the expected difficulties trying to find out who was behind it and why.

"Jim!" Winona was horrified. "I can't believe it! There hasn't been any terrorism on Earth for over a hundred years. Are you sure Earth is the target?"

"It's pretty certain, Ma. All the people on the shuttle were humans and all of them were on their way back to Earth. As to who is behind this and why, well, we're going to try to find out. Admiral Nogura is reassigning Gavin to this mission. Spock will work the Science end trying to find out the bioengineering origin of the mutation; Tom Jeffries will help Bones with the medical end of it, and Gavin and I and whoever else the Admiral has assigned will investigate the who and why."

Winona looked at her son. Across the comm miles Jim could hear the deep breath she took. "Just be very careful, sweetheart. I can hardly believe this is happening, it's diabolical. What kind of monsters would even conceive of doing such a thing?"

"I don't know, Ma, but we're going to find out; and we'll be careful, try not to worry."

"Not possible, son. But be that as it may, please tell Leonard that Peter and I are thinking about him and Joanna. That poor child, and her mother too."

"I will." Jim drew a breath and looked sternly at his mother. "And Ma, there is to be no public shuttle transportation for you and Peter. If you have to go anywhere, use the transporters or your own shuttle. I know it costs a lot more, but it's much safer with all the bio filters in place for all the transporters. Don't hesitate to let me know if you need extra money; promise me, mother."

"Yes, dear, of course I promise and I'm sure I won't need extra money. I may be retired, but consultant work pays pretty well."

"Yes, I know it does, but raising little boys is very expensive, and so is running the farm. Sam and Aurelan didn't leave a lot for Peter, and I know you're saving all of it for his later education and you're too stubborn to let me help with Peter."

Jim glanced at his comm and saw he had an incoming transmission from Spock on the bridge. "I have to go, there's a lot to do before we board _The Magellan_ in the morning. I'll comm you on Thursday when we get settled in the house in Atlanta. Bye for now, love you, Ma."

"I love you too, dear. Take care."

Jim then spoke to Spock, who briefed him on the expected time frame from Stellar Cartography. After the star mapping mission was completed, Jim wanted the _Enterprise_ to wait for them at the Jupiter space station just in case the Earth team needed backup from the ship. He always felt more secure when his ship was within hailing frequency. After Spock, he then spoke to Scotty and updated him on the new mission time frame and parameters.

He toggled his comm again. "Uhura, please get me Commander Bradford at SIS."

"Aye, Sir."

Jim waited patiently. Communication to Earth took a few minutes, when they were this far out.

"Commander Bradford for you, Captain."

Gavin's face flashed on his comm. "Jim, good to see you! Thought I'd be hearing from you."

"Gavin. We've got to quit meeting like this…one crisis after another. How are you?"

"Doing well, just finished a mission, so things are slow right now; I guess that's a good thing. You?"

"It's been quiet here too, after Sansora; it was nice to have a respite." Jim paused. "Did the Admiral contact you with your new orders?"

Gavin nodded. "I got word from him earlier. I'm so sorry to hear about Dr. McCoy's daughter, Jim, and his ex wife too. Admiral Nogura's orders to me were to work with you and do whatever we have to do to find the perpetrators. I've already started checking all our data bases for any bioterrorism activity on other worlds." He shook his head, his face somber. "I already told Violet that she and Davy can't use public transport shuttles."

Jim ran his hand over his face. "I told Ma the same thing. I only wish we could issue an alert to the rest of Earth's population, but that would create a world wide panic. We'll just have to work fast to find out who's doing this. So we'll see you at the guest house tomorrow morning," he said, "and we'll get started right away." He smiled. "How are Violet and Davy? From what Ma says, things are progressing well."

Gavin grinned happily. "Yep, things are going very well. In fact, we're going shopping for a ring as soon as we both have the same day off."

Jim's delighted smile lit up the comm screen. "That's fantastic, Gavin. I'm happy for you, for all of you. Davy will have a dad again, and Violet will have a husband who'll love and cherish her. She's very special." He sighed. "I miss seeing them; I bet Davy's grown a lot. Ma says he's talking up a storm now."

"Yeah, he is. Maybe we can fit in a short visit while you're in Atlanta. I know Violet would love to see you, and of course so would Davy. "

"I hope so Gavin." Jim didn't want to get his hopes up. He doubted there would be enough time for any visiting, even with his mother and Peter. This mission was urgent; of highest priority. His duty to find the terrorist came before anything else.

"Nogura said Tom Jeffries is assigned to Joanna's case," Gavin said. "No one better, except of course, Dr. McCoy. How's he doing?"

"He's hanging in there. He'll do better once he gets to SFM and sees Joanna and he can get started on finding the cure." Jim looked at his chronometer. "I better go, still a lot to do before we leave in the morning. Good talking to you, Gavin."

"Same here, Jim. Bradford out."

Jim still had to pack and then check on Bones. He hoped the doctor had napped and gotten some rest. He'd make sure he ate a good dinner. He got out his duffle bag, folded and put in his civilian clothes, his sleep pants and t shirt, his extra uniform shirts and pants, his phaser which he locked in its box, his extra comm, and after thinking it over, his boot knife. All of his right boots were made with a long slim soft pocket on the inside and the pocket was made in such a way that it blended with the inside of the boot and was invisible; that's where he stored his boot knife. That knife had come in handy on many occasions. Spock also had one, and the rest of the command crew had decided their new boots would now include a boot pocket. He looked around his cabin to see if he'd forgotten anything and added a couple of his treasured books. Although he doubted he'd have time to read, he always traveled with books; it was a long time ingrained habit since Academy days. He then contacted the bridge and Engineering and asked Uhura, Scotty and Spock to join him and Bones for dinner.

Satisfied with his packing, he went back to McCoy's quarters and quietly let himself in. The room was still dimly lit, and Bones was fast asleep. Jim went to the living area and pulled out his comm. There was still some time before Alpha shift was over. He made himself comfortable and began to work on some of his never ending reports. He'd let Bones sleep a little longer then they'd meet Spock, Scotty and Uhura for dinner. He'd also have a talk with Dr. M'Benga. If Bones needed a sedative to get a good night's sleep, Dr. M'Benga would make sure he'd get one, even over McCoy's protests. He knew that Spock was also worried about Bones, even if he'd never admit it. _Vulcans do not worry,_ Jim's mind intoned, in a perfect imitation of Spock's voice. Uhura and Scotty were also worried, so it would be good for everyone to spend time together and hopefully Bones would eat a good dinner. Jim frowned, looking down unseeing at his padd. McCoy was still too thin after his ordeal on Sansora. He needed to gain some of his lost weight back, so eating well and regularly was important.

He heard a noise behind him. McCoy was waking up. Jim got up and went to the sleeping alcove. "Hey, Bones," he said softly.

McCoy looked up, blinking sleepily. "Hey, Jim. Guess I did fall asleep," he said a little sheepishly.

"Best thing for you," Jim said firmly, sitting next to him. "Are you feeling a little better?"

McCoy tilted his head and took stock of himself. "Yeah, I think I am. Feel more like myself," he said, sounding slightly surprised.

"Good to hear. Why don't you take a quick shower and we'll meet the bridge crew for dinner in the officer's mess. I'm getting hungry. Our snack was a long time ago," Jim smiled.

"I'm kinda hungry myself. I'll be out in a few minutes," McCoy said, rummaging around for some casual slacks and a shirt, and going into the bathroom.

Jim nodded well satisfied. Bones looked a lot better, his eyes alert, and his color better. He'd be at the top of his game in Atlanta, and Baby Girl would get the best care possible. In his heart, Jim knew that she was going to be just fine, anything else was totally unacceptable.

* * *

 **1** **See "A Riverside Christmas Mystery**

 **2** **See "Ring of Treason"**


	4. The Joanna Protocol Chapter 4

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 4**

 **"How fares Joanna, that wild-hearted Maid!** **  
** **And when will she return to us?"**

 **William Wordsworth**

Precisely at 0800 _The Magellan_ came into view of the _Enterprise._ Jim waited patiently on the bridge for Captain Chu to hail him. Uhura turned her chair to him.

"Captain Chu is hailing you, Captain."

"Put her on screen, please Uhura."

"Captain Chu, good of you to come pick us up." Jim saw a woman in her mid to late thirties, dressed in black slacks and a gold command shirt. She was small and slim, her glossy black hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and her eyes were dark; large and soft doe eyes. Her Asian heritage was evident in her delicate features.

"Captain Kirk. Our pleasure; it's not often we get a direct order from the C in C himself. It must be something or someone very important to take the _Enterprise_ senior officers off the ship _._

Jim flashed his brilliant smile across the distance and Captain Chu blinked. "Yes, it is, Captain Chu, but the Admiral didn't want to interrupt or deviate from _the Enterprise's_ primary mission, so we appreciate the ride."

"We were going that way anyway. Captain Chu smiled back, knowing full well, she would never get the complete story about this small detour for her ship. "Are you ready to beam over to _The Magellan_?"

"Yes, we're ready. If you'll send us your coordinates, we'll be there shortly."

Captain Chu looked away and nodded to someone off screen. "Coordinates sent, Captain Kirk. I'll meet you in the transporter room. Chu out."

Jim gathered Spock with a nod and they picked up their duffle bags. "Uhura, please ask Dr. McCoy to meet us in the transporter room," he said, relinquishing his chair to the waiting Scotty. "We'll keep in touch, Mr. Scott."

"Aye, Captain. Good luck to all of ye. We'll be thinking and praying for the wee lass."

"Thank you, Mr. Scott. Take good care of my ship," Jim said.

"That I will, Sir. Dinna' worry about a thing, Captain."

They met McCoy coming down the corridor and they entered the transporter room. Lt. Winston Kyle was at the controls and Jim nodded to the Lieutenant.

"Mornin' Jim, Spock."

"Doctor, I trust you slept well and are rested," Spock said.

"Morning, Bones," Jim said as they stepped up on the transporter pad. Jim saw that Spock gave Bones a keen going over. The doctor looked better this morning, more rested; his blue eyes were clear, his shoulders back, and his demeanor resolute. Jim nodded at Kyle and said, "Energize," and the familiar silvery whine of the transporter sent them off to materialize in the smaller transporter room of _The Magellan_.

"Captain, welcome aboard." Captain Chu said.

"Thank you, Captain." Jim said. "May I introduce my XO Mr. Spock, and my CMO, Dr. Leonard McCoy."

Captain Chu stepped forward with her hand outstretched and welcomed Jim and McCoy with a handshake and then raised her hand in the Vulcan greeting to Spock. "Glad to have you here, gentlemen. Please follow me, and I'll escort you to our guest quarters. We were told by Admiral Nogura, best speed, so we'll be traveling at warp 6 to Earth. ETA is 1600 hours, so you won't be spending the night with us." She walked briskly down the main corridor from the transporter room, and they followed. Jim craned his neck, taking in the sight of the ship. He was not very familiar with the Miranda class ships. They were primarily Science and Supply ships, and had been constructed at the 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction yard. They were fully equipped with Phasers and Photon Torpedoes, but were smaller and lighter than the Constitution class ships like his own _Enterprise._

Jim glanced over to Captain Chu. "Pretty ship, you've got here, Captain."

She beamed up at him. "Thank you, Captain Kirk. We're very proud of her. She's a new ship, and this is her and my first command, and so far she's performed admirably. She's fast, and her warp core purrs like a kitten." Her glance was mischievous. "Of course, not as impressive as your beautiful _Enterprise_ , famed in song and story," she said, "but we're all very happy to be serving on her."

Jim grinned. His love for his lady was well known throughout Star Fleet, and sometimes he got teased about it from other Captains. He and Scotty _knew_ they served on the best ship in the Fleet.

Captain Chu stopped in front of the guest quarters and the door opened. Jim looked around setting his duffle on the floor. It was a large area, as large as Jim's own cabin aboard the Enterprise. "I hope you'll be comfortable during your stay, gentlemen. Would you like to eat lunch in the officer's mess or would you prefer to eat here?"

Jim looked over to the doctor. "Bones?" He would leave it up to McCoy to decide if he felt like eating in public.

"That'll be fine, Captain Chu. I look forward to it." Bones put his duffle down and went over to the living room alcove and sat down.

"I'll have my yeoman come for you at noon, and I'll meet you there. If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I must get back to the bridge." She nodded and left them alone.

"How are you doing, Bones?" Jim went over to the sofa and sat down by him, hazel eyes warm and concerned.

"Better, Jimmy. Now that we're going home and doin' somethin' I feel a lot better. I've already started some preliminary research on how the Choriocytosis virus could have been manipulated to mutate. It had to be done in a very well equipped and highly sophisticated lab, I already know that much. Gene manipulation is neither cheap nor easy."

"I concur with the doctor, Captain. Last night I reached out to the Vulcan healers at the Vulcan Science Academy. I told them that we are in the process of researching the virus in the hope of finding a cure, since it affects copper based humanoids so drastically. They sent me copies of all their research that they have done on the virus; it seems they have reached an impasse in their own research, so T'Son, the head researcher, was very gratified that someone else was also interested in finding a cure.

"Very gratified? Is that Vulcan speak for jumpin' for joy?" McCoy raised an eyebrow at Spock.

"Doctor, Vulcans do not "jump, much less jump for joy. That would be unseemly in the extreme. T'Son was quietly gratified as is the Vulcan way."

"Humph." Bones grumbled.

Jim smiled, happy to hear the gentle jibe from McCoy to Spock, and Spock's equally gentle rejoinder. Their old song and dance, more than anything, told him that Bones was indeed feeling better. He glanced at Spock and saw the soft gleam in the brown eyes. Spock too, was happy to hear McCoy's grumble.

"I will, of course, forward it immediately to your padd, Doctor. I will be very interested, as will T'Son, to hear what you think of the direction they have taken to find a cure." He took out his padd, opened the files and sent them on to McCoy.

Immediately, the doctor opened the files, sat back and began reading. Jim looked at Spock, who looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. If Jim didn't know better, he'd say that the Vulcan looked smug.

The rest of the morning was spent reading, Jim did some reading and research on the psychology of terrorism and bioterrorism. He could not hope to get to the bottom of the threat if he didn't understand at least some of the rationale behind the terrorist attack.

All the articles and research studies he looked at were old. There had been no terrorism on Earth in over a century and research had slowly dwindled. The psychology of terrorism had been extensively studied in the 21st century, but because of its complexities, the studies were marked more by theory and opinion than by good science, It was only late in the 21st and 22nd centuries that researchers were able to put together enough reliable data to form a theoretical framework for terrorist behavior, and even that was sketchy.

What they discovered, Jim read with increasing fascination, was surprising. It was a mistake to simply label terrorists as deranged or evil. On the contrary, psychologists who studied terrorist groups found that they tended to be stable individuals, not at all delusional or paranoid. What did separate them from the mainstream of humanity, and eventually swayed them to terrorism, was their ability to switch off their sense of empathy. They could not feel for the suffering of others or respond with the usual desire to help or alleviate that suffering. They could and did disengage their natural empathy and thus they saw other beings as objects, refusing to connect with them in any meaningful way. That disconnection is what made them psychopaths. Psychologists also discovered that there were many motivating factors behind terrorist attacks and the formation of fringe groups. Terrorist groups acted from one or a combination of motives; an intellectual ideology, a reasoned stance for their beliefs, an emotional component such as revenge, a social component, such as joining a group who provided emotional support and companionship, or finally a monetary component, such as being paid for terrorist activity, or exchanging hostages for ransom.1

Jim continued with his readings, by turns intrigued, appalled and fascinated; finally he looked up. McCoy and Spock were both still working on their padds. He checked his chronometer and saw that it was almost lunch time. "Let's take a break," he said. "The Captain's yeoman will be coming to announce lunch soon. How's it going, Bones, Spock?"

"The research data from Vulcan is fascinating, Captain, as I'm sure the doctor will agree. This will save us untold hours of useless trials."

"Yeah, Jim. This is very good stuff. Thanks to this research we're gonna be way ahead of where I thought we'd be." He looked up from his padd, blue eyes gleaming with hope. "I think it'll be a lot easier than I thought finding the cure for the mutated virus." He turned to Spock. "Thank you, Spock; I cain't thank you enough, this may be enough to save my Baby Girl," he said, swallowing hard.

Spock nodded solemnly. "You are most welcome, Doctor. It is my privileged to assist you in finding the cure that will save your daughter."

Jim smiled softly to himself. Who said Vulcans had no emotions?

The door chimed and opened to the Captain's yeoman. "Gentlemen, lunch is ready in the Officer's Mess. If you would follow me please, I will take you there."

"Thank you, Ensign." Jim gave the pretty young woman his best and sweetest smile. She blushed prettily and lowered her eyes as she walked briskly in front of the men.

"Down, boy," Bones whispered softly into Jim's ear. "She's way too young for you, Jim. Probably only 19 or so."

"Bones!" Jim protested. "Behave yourself. I was just being friendly."

"Yeah, right. Where have I heard that before," McCoy muttered.

Jim chuckled, pleased to hear McCoy's usual grouse about his flirting. It, more than anything else, told Him that McCoy was feeling better.

They entered the officer's mess to see the Captain and First Officer waiting at a round table for them. "Gentlemen, please sit down," said Captain Chu. "Lunch will be served shortly. May I present my First Officer, Lt. Commander Paul Welker." They shook hands all around as Jim made introductions; then sat down.

"A pleasure to meet all of you," said the Lt. Commander. "The exploits of all of you and your ship are well known across the quadrant." He swept admiring eyes across the table.

"Thank you, Mr. Welker. I'm very proud of my ship and crew," said Jim. "How long have you served under Captain Chu?" he asked.

"I came with Captain Chu when she was given _The Magellan_ , Sir. Before that I was posted on the destroyer, _USS Cochise,_ a Saladin class ship."

Jim nodded. "Enterprise has been happy to have back up from some of the Saladin class destroyers, especially when we've been out gunned by the Romulan or Klingon Fleets."

Talk became general as they caught up with Fleet and Federation gossip and news from around the quadrant. Lunch was delicious. Jim sighed with pleasure at the good food. _Nothing like_ _a good mess chef_ , he thought, thinking back to his mother's excellent cooking. He realized that he, Sam and their father had often taken Winona's cooking expertise for granted. He caught McCoy's glance and his grin, and realized that Bones had read his mind. He was happy to see that grin and his gaze drifted to McCoy's plate; Bones was eating with a good appetite, a sure sign of his relief that the data Spock had given him was a giant step forward for their Choriocytosis research. He glanced at Spock and saw that he too, had noted that the food in front of Bones was slowly but thoroughly disappearing.

After the meal, the Captain and her XO excused themselves to return to bridge duty.

"My yeoman will come for you when we arrive at the San Francisco Space Port, Captain. I understand there will be a priority Star Fleet shuttle waiting for you there."

"Yes, thank you, Captain. We certainly appreciate the ride. It would have taken _Enterprise_ away from her mission otherwise, and it's imperative we begin our work as quickly as possible."

"It was our pleasure, Captain. I'll see you in the transporter room when we arrive."

Jim, McCoy and Spock made their way back to the guest quarters. Jim stretched and yawned. "I think it'd be a good idea if we all relaxed, maybe took a short nap this afternoon. I have a feeling, there won't be much resting once we get to SFM," he added.

"Yeah, good idea, Jim. As your CMO, I prescribe a short nap for all of us."

"Vulcans do not nap, Doctor McCoy. However, I will recline and continue with my reading," Spock said, raising one eyebrow at McCoy.

"Give it your best shot, hobgoblin. It'll do you good," McCoy sniffed, leaning down and taking off his boots. Jim did the same and stretched out on the couch. McCoy went to the sleeping alcove and stretched out on top of the bed cover, Spock sat down in the easy chair with his padd. Quiet descended, punctuated by McCoy's soft snores. Jim smiled with his eyes closed, as he too drifted off.

The door chime rang and Spock went to answer it. Captain Chu's yeoman was at the door. "We'll be arriving at the San Francisco Space Dock in 10 minutes, Commander. Captain Chu asked me to notify you and said she would see you off in the transporter room. She's been contacted by the shuttle with their coordinates. You will all be beamed straight there."

"Thank you, yeoman. We will not need assistance to find the transporter room."

"Aye, Sir."

Spock turned his attention back to the room, and saw that Jim and McCoy were up, and had gathered their belongings. He picked up his own, and waved a hand to usher everyone from the room; they headed for the transporter room.

Captain Chu was already there waiting for them. The wall comm beeped and she answered it. "We're approaching SF Space Dock, Captain," said Commander Welker's voice from the bridge."

"Standard parking orbit, Commander and let Space Dock Central know we're ready for the robots to attach the main umbilical."

"Aye, Captain."

There was the usual tiny bump felt round the ship, as the ship was tied down for their stay.

"We are docked and stationary, Captain," said Commander Welker.

"Thank you, Commander. Have the bridge power down. Begin rotation for shore leave for the entire crew, including you. Is that clear, Commander?"

"Yes, Captain, perfectly clear," Welker responded.

Jim could hear the smile in Commander Welker's voice. He wondered if all XOs were the same, stubbornly set against leaving the ship for shore leave. He practically had to kidnap Spock to make him leave the ship for shore leave.

Captain Chu's personal communicator beeped. "Captain Chu here."

"This is SF shuttle X674; we're ready to receive your passengers, Captain."

Jim thanked the Captain once again and they stepped up to the transporter pad. 'Energize," she said.

They rematerialized on the shuttle, and Jim was pleased to see that Bones had nothing to say about his scattered atoms. The transporter Ensign greeted them and ushered them out of the tiny area. Shuttles didn't usually have transporter padds, so you were beamed into an area of the shuttle with the most room. "Please come this way, Sirs. You'll have to be seated and strapped down and then we'll take off for SFM. It's a short trip."

The ride to the Academy was indeed short. The shuttle pilot landed in the shuttle parking lot behind the large SFM building and the Ensign opened the doors and politely bid them goodbye. The three men stepped out to a damp and very foggy San Francisco afternoon. A ghostly figure stepped out of the dense fog to greet them. "Jim!"

"Gavin! I didn't expect you to be here to meet us," Jim told him giving him a brief hug and a warm handshake.

"Jim, Leonard, Mr. Spock. Good to see you. Doctor, I'm to take you directly to see Joanna. She's stable, the stasis is working well on her and the other patients. It's halted the progression of the virus. We'll wait for you to see her and afterward I'll show you where the house is and you can get settled in. We're all rooming together. Admiral Nogura wants to meet with us at 1800 hours. He said don't bother with dinner, he'll have something brought in for us. Dr. McCoy, the Admiral also said that you and Mr. Spock will be receiving all the data from SFM on what they've done with the virus. It should be in your comms shortly."

"Thanks, Gavin. Let's get going then," Jim said.

Gavin and Jim walked a little ahead of the other two men. Gavin spoke softly for Jim's ears alone. "I think something else has happened, Jim. Nogura has the place practically on lockdown; he said he'd brief us personally when we were all together; I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

 **[1] /blog/archives/2009/11/17/the-psychology-of-terrorism/ and other similar sites**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 5**

" **All that is necessary for the triumph of Evil**

 **Is for the Good men to do nothing."**

 **Edmund Burke**

Jim, Bones and Spock followed Gavin to the main entrance of SFM. Inside the building was a large foyer with comfortable chairs and sofas scattered around. There was a separate entrance to the patient area and Jim noted that security was tight. At the entrance, there were two separate check points; first they had to show their Star Fleet identification; after that there was a body and clothing scan and a face and retina recognition protocol in place to double check their identities. Jim looked a question at Gavin at the unusual security.

"There's always security in place to get in to see the patients, but the Admiral ordered that it be heightened since the terrorist attack. No one can get in to see the patients unless they go through all this security."

Bones nodded his agreement. "That's good, Gavin. We cain't be too careful after all that's happened," Bones said, as he leaned in to have his face and retina scanned. After they finished, Gavin led them down the corridor to a set of double doors guarded by two burly SF Security red shirts. Gavin nodded at them, and they stepped aside to let them into the room. Gavin reached out a hand to Jim and Spock so McCoy could go in first. The room was dimly lit and there was a glow coming from the small bed in the room. McCoy walked slowly to the bio bed and looked down at the small figure lying there. Joanna appeared to be deeply asleep. Her curly dark hair was spread out on the pillow and she was on her side, dressed in blue pajamas with yellow ducks on them. Her little face was tranquil in repose with the usual sweet expression she always had in sleep, and although pale, there was a little color in her lips. McCoy looked down at his beautiful little girl, swallowed hard and sudden tears sheened in his eyes. There was a set of gloves on the table beside the bed and McCoy put them on. He reached in and gently touched Joanna's forehead, brushed back her hair, and ran a gentle finger down her small nose. Jim watching him also felt the sting of hot tears in his eyes.

"Daddy's here, Baby Girl. Daddy's here, and he's gonna' make you well. I promise you, sweetheart." McCoy's whisper carried clearly to the three men at the door. "Jim." He turned and beckoned to him. "Come talk to her, you know how she always loves to talk to you during our comms."

Jim came to stand by McCoy. The doctor handed him a glove and Jim put in on. He reached through the stasis field and rubbed her little arm gently. "Hey, Jo Bear. It's Uncle Jim, baby. Daddy and I came to see you, we came from the ship. I know you're not feeling well right now, but Daddy is going to find the medicine that'll make you well. You just hang in there for a little longer, sweetheart, okay?" Jim's golden eyes looked down at the child, and he felt his heart break a little at seeing her like this. Joanna was always so active, so openly affectionate when they spoke. She was always talkative and even a little mischievous during her comms with her dad and Jim always enjoyed it when he could share in those times. He heard McCoy draw a shaky breath.

Jim pulled his hand out of the stasis field and put it around McCoy's shoulder and hugged him tightly. "She's going to be all right, Bones. You and the rest of the team will find the cure. I know you will."

McCoy looked at his Captain and friend and saw the total certainty in his face, the reassurance in the hazel eyes. It was that kind of confidence that his crew depended on and why they would follow him to hell and back.

"Leonard, Jim, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to go. Admiral Nogura is waiting for us. Your ex wife is right next door, Leonard; would you like to step in for a moment?" Gavin's voice was soft and reluctant to interrupt McCoy, but he had his orders as did they.

"Yeah, thanks, Gavin, I'll just go in for a minute."

The men waited outside of Jocelyn's room, and it wasn't long before the doctor came back out. He looked pale, but composed. "She looks peaceful," he said, leaning heavily against the door. Though their relationship was strained and always tense, McCoy hated seeing her like that.

Jim took one look at McCoy's pale drawn face, and said, "Come on, Bones. We'll come back after the briefing. Let's see what the Admiral has to say," He steered McCoy gently down the corridor. McCoy turned his head and cast one last forlorn glance back at Joanna's room door, but followed Jim without protest.

Gavin led them through the large double doors at the end of the corridor. The Admiral stood by a large Comm terminal installed atop a round table. A yeoman was setting the table with plates, utensils and beverages when they walked in and the Admiral quickly dismissed him.

"Gentlemen, please come in. Have a seat. I'll be finished shortly," Admiral Nogura said, going back to his comm and scrolling through whatever was on the screen. He looked up as the men sat down and closed his comm. "I'm happy to see you, all of you. You're sorely needed here. Dr. McCoy, you have my heartfelt wishes that your daughter will recover completely from this disease as soon as you and your team can find the cure which I am certain you will. We've assembled the best Epidemiologists in the sector; all those that we could get here quickly to assist you and of course, it goes without saying, Mr. Spock is the absolute best."

Jim saw that the C in C looked careworn. His usually benign demeanor, wrinkle free, even at his advanced age, showed stress and there were purple bags under his eyes, all signs of too little sleep. Jim knew that the Admiral was unflappable even in the direst of circumstances, and the fact that he looked worried did nothing for Jim's nerves.

There was a faint knock on the door. Nogura called out, "come in," and three servers brought in carts of foods. "Thank you, Ensigns. We'll serve ourselves. I'll let you know when you may come back to pick up the carts."

He turned to the three men, "Please serve yourselves, gentlemen. We'll have a working lunch." The Admiral picked up his plate and served himself. He sat down and waited patiently for everyone else to sit and then passed out comm units to the three men. "These are for you to use while you're here. They are highly encrypted and the information there can only be accessed after a retina scan. Please go ahead and eat, and then we'll begin the briefing. It may be a while before there's enough time for the next meal."

The men ate silently. Jim glanced at Gavin and Spock; he had a bad feeling about this meeting. Spock caught his glance and raised an eyebrow and Jim knew that Spock agreed with him. Gavin too, looked at him knowingly.

Finally, the Admiral looked up from his meal. "I got word early this morning, there's been another attack. This time it was a 10 person shuttle taxi from Luna to Earth. All ten people were infected, but we got to them early thanks to the screening protocol we've implemented for all incoming shuttles, big or small. The ten, again all humanoids, were taken to the hospital in New York. They're all doing well, thanks to some intensive medical intervention. We've told them and their families that they were exposed to an accidental radiation leak on the shuttle and they have to be in quarantine for a few days so as not to expose anyone else to radiation. We've also told them that the medicine and course of treatment they're receiving is for radiation poisoning. Radiation poisoning also explains the bio hazard suits the doctors and nurses have to wear. It's against my principles to lie to patients, but there would be a terrible panic if word got out about the virus. They're in a holding pattern as far as the progression of the Choriocytosis is concerned, but how long that will last we don't know. They may get worse today or tomorrow, no one knows for sure."

"Then Admiral," McCoy said. "Shouldn't Spock and I get started right away? What are we doin' here? Time is wastin'!"

"There's more, Dr. McCoy." Nogura pointed to their padds. "Please open your padds.

The three men waited for their retina scan to open the padds and then looked down at the display.

"What you see there, is the extortion note that I received. It was addressed to me as head of Star Fleet; it went to my personal email which is only given out to the other Admirals and Captains of the Fleet. In other words, it didn't go through the general SF email which is available to the public. That email is screened by my assistants and they forward anything they think is important to me."

 _ **To: Admiral Heihachiro Nogura**_

 _ **Sir, As you have now seen it is easy to infect innocent people with the now lethal strain of the mutated viral disease, Choriocytosis. We have given you two instances of our ability to do so. The beauty of our system is that you cannot predict where or when we will infect more people. Another beauty is that it is impossible to tell who is doing the infecting and how it is done. If you want to stop the spread of infection, there is an easy way to do it. We want 50 million credits deposited to bank account number 84-490 597 at the United Federation World Bank in Bern, Switzerland.**_

 _ **Do not attempt to discover our identity, or alert any of your law enforcement agencies of this email. It will do no good, and you will not succeed. You have three standard days to acquire the funds. If the funds are not deposited by the end of the banking day three days from today, there will be many more beings infected. Do not trifle with us. We do not care how many small lives are lost.**_

"As you can see, gentlemen, we are dealing with an organized highly sophisticated group. I've had our forensic and tech teams on this since I received it. All they've come up with is that the email was bounced and routed through several on and off world servers. There's no way to tell where it originated.

Jim glanced at Bones, worried about his reaction. Bones' face was pale, but his blue eyes were steely and determined. "This is diabolical, Admiral. We cain't let these monsters get away with this. Small lives, are we? We'll see how small these lives are when we catch these SOBs."

"Indeed Admiral." Spock steepled his long fingers. "It does seem that they are well organized and sophisticated, but every group, as we have all seen has their weaknesses. It is up to us to discover these weaknesses and bring these beings to justice. Dr. McCoy and I are committed to finding a cure for this virus as quickly as possible. To that end, Admiral, I have taken the liberty to bring with me all the data that the Vulcan Science Academy has accumulated on Choriocytosis. Dr. McCoy feels it has sped up our search to a marked degree."

Admiral Nogura beamed. "That's excellent news, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy; the first I've had in several days. Then let me not keep you here any longer." He pushed a button on his comm and an aide came in the room. "Ensign, please show Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy where the laboratories are located. Gentlemen, if you would please follow Ensign Torres, he'll escort you. Again you will need to be scanned to enter. This evening Mr. Torres will take you to the house where you will be staying."

Spock and McCoy stood as did Jim and Gavin. "Bones, Spock, we'll see you later at the house. We'll comm you if we find out anything new," Jim said. He reached and grasped Bones' arm in a warm grip. "You'll find the cure, Bones. You and Spock and the rest of the team."

McCoy nodded and he and Spock followed the Ensign out. Gavin and Jim sat back down to continue their briefing. "So," Jim said, "we have three days to get some answers. Do we have any leads at all?"

"Commander Bradford?" Nogura nodded to Gavin, "I believe you have some things to share with us?"

"Yes, Sir. I've put together a small crisis team to help with the investigation. They are working within a Need To Know paradigm, so they don't know about the bio terrorism threats. We need the man power and their expertise and my team members are one hundred percent trustworthy and reliable."

He flipped open his personal comm and said, "I have two team members on Luna interrogating the shuttle company there, and another two man team on Io doing the same. That's where Ms. Darnell took Joanna for her business trip. Both shuttle companies are privately owned and small, not too many employees. I'm hoping we'll find someone who knows something. We're telling the shuttle company owners and employees that we're looking for a convicted fugitive." He sighed. "It's a long shot, Admiral, but we have to start somewhere."

Nogura nodded. "I'm forwarding everything to your padds that we've discovered here so far." He turned to Jim. "Any thoughts, Captain?"

Jim looked down at the files he was receiving. "Not right now, Admiral. I want to go through all this information carefully to see if anything catches my eye. I have hopes that Gavin's teams will find out something; there's always something. No one's totally invisible; criminals and evil doers always leave some sort of trace. First, I think Gavin and I need to go to Bern to speak with the bank people there. Maybe we can glean some information about who opened the account."

"That's a good idea, Jim." Gavin said. "We'll need to think up a good cover story."

They looked at Nogura and he nodded his agreement. "Go on to the house, leave your things, and come back here. We'll beam you to Bern from here; it will attract much less attention that way. I want both of you out of uniform, just take your IDs. Star Fleet uniforms attract a lot of attention, and your face especially, Captain, is too well known not to be easily recognized." He stood and buzzed for his yeoman. The Ensign came in and stood at attention. Ensign Torres, please escort the Captain and Commander to the guest house, wait for them and bring them back here."

Aye, Sir."

"Gentlemen, you're dismissed. Go do what you do best. If I have further news I'll be in touch."

Jim and Gavin saluted, and followed the Ensign out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 6**

 **It's the season of scars and wounds in the heart**

 **Of feeling the full weight of our burdens**

" **It's the season of bowing our heads in the wind**

 **And knowing we are not alone in fear**

 **Not alone in the dark"**

 **Vienna Teng**

Jim and Gavin followed Ensign Torres out of the SF Medical Complex and across the street to a row of houses lining the boulevard. Torres walked them to one of the larger houses facing the hospital. The façade, a mellow pale creamy limestone, matched the Medical building, as did all the houses in the lane. Ensign Torres placed his thumb on the security panel and the door opened.

"Gentlemen, please place your thumbs on the panel and I'll key in your security clearance." They did as he asked, checked that the thumbprints worked, and walked in. The living area of the house was nicely furnished with nondescript, comfortable, upholstered pieces, and good lighting. Jim saw that there was a kitchen adjacent to the living area.

"There's an office off of the hallway," the Ensign said. "We've provided you with everything you'll need technology wise. The bedrooms are this way," he added going down the hallway. "There are three bedrooms, each with twin beds. We thought you could room together, and leave one bedroom empty in case we have to bring in more people to help."

Jim nodded. "That's fine, Ensign Torres. We're not picky. All of us have slept in far worse places. This is great." Jim placed his duffle on top of one of the beds and Gavin did the same.

"I've gone ahead and ordered some staples for you gentlemen. "Milk, coffee, eggs, some good bread, fruit, etc.; nothing fancy. There is also a food replicator if you want to use that instead." He looked around. "If there's anything else you need, Admiral Nogura has put my contact information in your comms. I'll be at your disposal for this mission. I'll bring Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock here after their shift at the lab is over."

"Thank you, Ensign Torres. We appreciate the help," Jim said.

"You're welcome, Captain. I'll be on my way, and leave you to your work." Torres saluted smartly, and left them.

Jim and Gavin looked at each other. . "Not only do we have to get to Bern, but we've got to get access to the Bank accounts. I've been thinking and I've got an idea how we can do it, Gavin," Jim said.

Gavin grinned. "I thought you might," he said. "What do we need?"

Jim sat on the bed. "We need SIS to create some fake IDs and credentials for us. We're going to become Forensic Auditors. We've been assigned by the United Federation Terran Banking Commission to conduct an investigation into the bank's assets and accounts. There is suspicion that some of the funds deposited in the _United Federation Terran Bank in Bern, Switzerland,_ have been acquired from crime or money laundering."

Gavin sat back on the bed and considered. SIS could create new forged identities, bios, and credentials fast. They could also be beamed to Bern quickly, maybe even by this evening if their identities could be forged this afternoon. With their impeccable identities and credentials, their access to the Bern bank accounts would not be questioned. He smiled at Jim. "Brilliant!" He pulled out his comm. "I'll brief the Admiral and if he agrees, I'll have him get on the horn with SIS to expedite the order."

He put the Admiral on speaker, and explained the plan. "I like it. It's simple and elegant," the Admiral said, sounding hopeful. "I'll give the order. Your new identities and IDs should be ready within the hour. SIS will be in touch, Commander. Nogura, out."

Gavin looked Jim over critically. "Jim, your pretty face is too easily recognizable," he said. Your holos and recruitment posters have been plastered across the quadrant for a long time. Everyone knows your face."

Jim frowned and opened his mouth to protest the 'pretty face.'

"We're going to have to do something about that," Gavin said, getting up close to Jim, considering how best to hide the handsome face. "We'll darken your hair, add some gray to your temples, give you some old fashioned glasses, maybe add a mustache, and put you in some non descript clothing. That should do it. If anyone asks, just remember that you're allergic to Retinax, so you're nearsightedness could not be cured with the drops and you have to wear old fashioned glasses."

Jim closed his mouth. "That doesn't sound too bad," he said. "Wonder what Ma and Peter would say if they saw me looking like that." He grinned at the thought.

"They'd probably laugh," Gavin said. "Now, what we have to do is get up to speed on Forensic Auditing so we'll sound good; knowledgeable and like we've done this for years. Let me pull up some information for our padds and we'll go over it together."

Jim waited until he saw the file in his padd. He glanced at Gavin. "It's a lot Gavin."

"I know, Jim, but when we go undercover, it's important that you know as much as possible about what you're doing. In this case, we just have to sound good. I'm asking SIS to lend me one of our best computer hackers. He'll be part of our team and once we're in, he'll hack into the system and access the account we need."

"Isn't that highly illegal?" Jim looked bemused.

"Yes, it's highly illegal and we try our best not to abuse our ability to do so; we have to get special permission like I did from the C in C. Just so you know, Jim, SIS operatives don't do things like this lightly. We try to protect Federation civil rights and personal privacy as much as we can and are able to do so during a classified investigation. However, when we're dealing with ruthless murderers, terrorists, child predators, or slavers, we do what we have to do."

Jim nodded slowly in understanding. His grandfather Tiberius would use the expression, _needs must when the devil drives_ , to explain to the small Jim that sometimes no matter how unwilling he was, there were some things he must do; things like chores or homework. He must do them well and with acceptance, because they had to be done and couldn't be avoided.

Jim bent to his task. He leaned his broad shoulders against the headboard and settled in to study. His memory was very good, sharpened through the years by having to remember both important, as well as insignificant details, cultural, linguistic, and planetary customs and information, not to mention protocol for a myriad of First Contact missions. His memory was not as good as Spock's certainly, Vulcans had an eidetic memory, but he would have no problems memorizing the information Gavin had down loaded. They had to be sure they could talk a good game to the bank managers.

From what he read, he, Gavin, and the IT SIS agent would pose as investigative forensic accountants. Their cover was that they were looking into recovering proceeds of funds acquired illegally. They were there to conduct the forensic audit in order to prosecute their fictitious criminals for fraud, embezzlement, theft, and money laundering. The bank would then have to produce any and all accounts information since the accounts had been opened illegally. Jim, Gavin and the IT agent would collect all the data they could and analyze what they found in the hopes that they could track the holders of the bank account number they'd sent to the Admiral.

The afternoon waned and shadows lengthened in the bedroom when Jim finally looked up. He checked his chronometer. It was getting close to dinner time and Bones and Spock had not checked in with him. He glanced at Gavin, who was working on his pad. "I'm finished, Gavin, and it's time I checked in on Bones. Let me speak with Ensign Torres first and then we'll go back to the hospital. I'd like to look in on Joanna again, and bring Bones back here for a rest and a good meal. He'll keep going until he drops, and Spock seldom gets tired, so I'm the one who'll have to intervene. Members of the clan McCoy are notoriously stubborn." Jim was not looking forward to fighting Bones' stubborn protests that he was not tired. "Let's eat in; we'll eat and debrief and then you and I can get my disguise ready and we'll beam to Bern so we'll be ready when the bank opens in the morning."

"Our IDs and credentials are ready, Jim. Both in our comms and hard copies. Our IT agent, whose name by the way, is Sonnai Connolly, will meet us in Bern first thing in the morning."

"Good," Jim said, opening his comm and calling Ensign Torres' number.

"Torres here, Captain. How may I help you?"

"We're heading over to the lab, Ensign. Have you checked in with Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock?"

"Yes, Captain, twice. I suggested that we walk over to the house, but I couldn't convince them; both of them said they were not ready to stop working yet. They've been working non stop since you left here."

Jim heard the tired sigh over the comm. He was sure Torres had tried his best to convince McCoy and Spock to leave the lab. He met Gavin's knowing grin.

"Dr. McCoy is well known for his stubbornness, Ensign, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you about Vulcan stamina. I've been in your shoes many times. Don't worry about it any more; Commander Bradford and I will be there shortly and we'll pull them away from the lab somehow."

He heard the relief in Torres' voice. "Thank you, Captain. If there's anything else you need, Sir, please don't hesitate to contact me. Torres out."

Gavin came to sit beside Jim and opened his own comm. He keyed in a number looking critically at Jim's face. "Lt. Timmons, this is Commander Bradford. I need some items for an undercover mission."

"Yes, Sir, I'm ready," he said, "what do you need?"

"Medium brown and grey temporary hair dye, a mustache, a pair of dark framed eye glasses, two dark conservative suits, white shirts, and appropriate ties. You already have my measurements, I'll scan and send you the other person's in a few minutes and I'll also send you the coordinates so you can beam them in. I need them ASAP, Timmons, by 1800 hours if possible."

"They'll be in your hands by then, Sir."

"Thanks, Timmons. Hold on." He motioned for Jim to stand, and scanned him quickly. " Sending you the other measurements now, Lieutenant."

"Got them, Commander. Timmons out."

Jim and Gavin walked back to the hospital, went through security and down the corridor. Gavin knew where the labs were located and he led Jim through another hallway and stopped in front of large double doors. He leaned in to have his retina scanned and Jim did the same. The doors opened and they walked into a huge laboratory, bigger than Jim had ever seen before. He scanned the room and found the two figures he was looking for. Both figures in Science blues were bending over some data padds; there were instruments and medical paraphernalia scattered all over the counter tops. He could hear Bones' southern drawl interspersed with Spock's precise baritone as they talked about whatever they were working on. Both were so absorbed in what they were doing that they didn't hear Jim and Gavin as they walked forward.

"Bones, Spock," Jim said. They both turned to him, surprised. "Time to call it a day. You've been here since noon. We have a lot to tell you and we can do it much better and safer at the house."

McCoy opened his mouth to protest, but Jim forestalled him. "Bones, you'll be no good to Joanna and Jocelyn if you collapse from exhaustion. Spock," he looked sternly at the Vulcan. "I know that you can go without rest and food for far longer than we humans, but I expect you to monitor Dr. McCoy's rest and nourishment while you're working with him. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain." Spock looked a little chagrined. "I'm afraid I have been remiss not to have thought of that earlier. My apologies, Dr. McCoy."

"Jim," McCoy growled, looking daggers at him. "I don't need a minder; I'm perfectly capable of takin' care of myself!"

"Uh huh," Jim said. "Of course you are, Bones. It's just that right now you're preoccupied with Jo's treatment." Jim smiled his 'charm the little birds out of the tree' smile at the doctor.

Bones looked at him skeptically. "Yeah well, it's true about being preoccupied, but that's because we've already made a lot of progress, right Spock?"

"That is correct, Captain. Our research is proceeding much faster than we first anticipated. Dr. McCoy is quite proficient at extrapolating and expanding on the research the Vulcan healers sent us."

"Excellent! That's fantastic news, but no more than I expected from the two of you. You're not considered the best in the Fleet for nothing. Come on, Bones," Jim coaxed. "Let's peek in at Jo and then go get something to eat. Then you can come back if you and Spock want to." He turned and sent a warning glance to Spock.

Spock gave him an infinitesibly small nod. "I confess that I would like some nourishment, Dr. McCoy. I did not eat much lunch, and as I recall neither did you. I think we would work better and more effectively if we ate; after all our brains do require fuel." Spock's voice was bland, lacking any tone of wanting to convince the doctor.

McCoy looked at him suspiciously, but receiving only a mild glance in return, he turned his glance back to Jim. "All right, Jim. No need for you to waste your smilin' charm any further trying to convince me. We'll go see Baby Girl for a minute and then we'll grab something to eat." He stretched his back muscles, and Jim winced as he heard the crack of Bones' neck as he rotated it.

They walked to Jo's room, Jim stopped at the door to wait for Bones to go in alone, but Bones grabbed his arm and led him into the room. Jo had been turned to face the other side of the room by the attending nurse who gave them a smile when they came in; then she left them alone. Bones picked up her chart padd. Joanna was being turned every hour on the hour and the bio bed was programmed to massage her arms and legs to maintain her muscle tone. The nurse was also monitoring her feeding and caloric and water intake. She was sponge bathed every morning, her hair and teeth were brushed, and her lips hydrated. Her vital signs were all good and the viral infection had not worsened. Jim and the doctor put on their gloves so they could touch her through the stasis field. Jim went first; he gently stroked her small arms, cheeks and forehead, murmuring words of affection and comfort to the little girl. He finally withdrew his hand, patted Bones, and left the room so the doctor could be alone with Joanna.

After a short while, Bones came out of the room smiling tiredly. "She's doing well," he said, "holding her own. So is Jocelyn, I checked her chart too."

The three men walked out of the hospital and crossed the street to the house. The sun was setting, it's light diffused and hazy in the San Francisco fog; twilight was upon them. Gavin stood on the stoop and placed his thumb to the sensor pad and the door opened. There was already a small box with the disguise items he had requested sitting on the floor and two dark suits were draped over the living room sofa. Gavin smiled at the pin point accuracy and efficiency of Lt. Timmons. Spock raised an eyebrow when he saw the suits.

"What the hell is all this, Jim?" McCoy asked, looking at the suits and the box.

"This," said Jim, "is what is going to get us the information we need about the terrorists' identities." He grinned at them, his golden eyes aglow. "You're looking at the two new forensic accounts Auditors sent from the United Federation Terran Banking Commission. Gavin and I are going to be at that bank in Bern first thing in the morning. Now, let's order some food, I'm starving."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 7**

" ** _Promise me you'll always remember:_**

 ** _You're braver than you believe,_**

 ** _and stronger than you seem,_**

 ** _and smarter than you think."_**

 ** _Christopher Robin to Pooh_**

Gavin commed Ensign Torres to get suggestions for good food that could be delivered. "Leave to me, Commander. I know a place that has great down home cooking, and they will beam it in for a nominal fee. I'll order it right away. They also have some great vegetarian dishes for Mr. Spock; I'll order several different choices for him."

"That's great Lt. Torres, thanks. Just let me know the cost so I can reimburse you," Gavin told him.

"That's all right, Sir. Star Fleet is paying for everything while you're here; Admiral's orders. The food should be there in half an hour or so. Torres out."

Gavin disconnected and turned to the three men. "There's time to freshen up if anyone wants a shower. Jim and I are going to get ready for our trip to Bern." He picked up the box that SIS had sent and opened it. It looked like everything was in there, two kinds of hair dye, eye glasses, and the mustache. Gavin looked at Jim and grinned. "Are you ready for your disguise, Captain?"

"I'm ready."

"Let's work in the kitchen close to the sink," Gavin said.

"I'll shower later," Bones said. "I wanna' see how this transformation happens. Are you experienced at this kind of thing, Gavin?"

"Indeed," said Spock. "I, too, would be interested."

"I'm pretty much of an expert at disguises, Leonard. SIS agents have to be able to change their personas at the drop of a hat. Sit here, Jim, and I'll get started. The hair dye is water proof through five or six hair washes, so it should be fine until the mission is over. The mustache will have to be applied every day. I wish you'd had time to grow your own," he added, looking at Jim's smooth face.

"No you don't, Gavin. Tried it once, and it grew out really ginger. It wouldn't have gone with the hair dye," Jim told him, sitting down.

"Let's see now," Gavin said. "I need a towel, a couple of saucers, a fine tooth comb, and something to put on the floor. Don't want to mess up SFM property."

He went into the bathroom and looked in kitchen cabinets, gathered all he needed and stood in front of Jim looking at his sandy hair. He opened both bottles of hair dye and poured some in the saucers. "We'll start with the dark hair dye," he murmured to himself. He dipped the fine tooth comb carefully into the dark dye and began to run it slowly through Jim's sandy hair. Jim's hair was short, so it didn't take long. "We'll let it dry for a few minutes," Gavin said, looking critically at his handiwork. "Don't want it too dark, because it will look fake," he said. "I'm going to leave some of your lighter hair as highlights."

Jim sputtered in amusement. "Highlights? Come on, Gavin, don't get carried away."

"Highlights," Gavin said firmly. "If you look at natural hair, it's not just not one color, Jim, it's several colors. You just let the expert here do his job; you'll see it will look perfectly natural when I'm finished."

Leonard and Spock looked on in fascination, as he picked up the gray hair color and started on Jim's side burns. When he was satisfied with the amount of color, he stepped back. "It looks good, Jim. Now for the mustache." He pulled out a brown mustache. "I'm going to have to trim this, he said, "so I hope Timmons sent a pair of scissors," he said looking into the box. "Ha, he sure did, that guy is golden!" He lifted up the mustache and held it against Jim's upper lip, then trimmed it to his satisfaction. He put on the facial glue, and then stuck it above Jim's lips. "There," he said, putting on the dark framed glasses on Jim. "You're all set. What do you think, gentlemen?"

Leonard looked critically at Jim. "You look totally different, Jim. I think you'll pass. No one will recognize you, that's for sure. Don't know what Winona would say if she could see you now, though. You've lost your good looks, there Jim boy."

"I concur with the doctor, Commander. I am certain that the Captain will not be recognized in Bern, however, I must confess, that I do not find his appearance aesthetically pleasing at all." Spock's eyebrows were drawn together in consternation as he looked at the changed face of his Captain.

Jim chuckled at Spock's obvious displeasure, and got up and went to the bathroom mirror. The face that looked back at him looked entirely different than his own. He had to agree with Bones, though, his mother wouldn't like seeing him like this and Spock was right, he was not aesthetically pleasing. However, he was unrecognizable, and that was the most important thing.

"You did a great job, Gavin. I don't even recognize myself," Jim said coming back to the living room.

The whine of a transporter beam interrupted him, and four large take out containers appeared in the middle of the room. Their food had arrived, beamed in with pinpoint accuracy. Jim cleaned off the table and Gavin and Spock set out the take out cartons of chicken fried steak, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, carrot salad, green beans, sweet potato casserole, sweet tea and corn bread that Torres had ordered for them.

Bones beamed when he saw the food. "Down home southern cooking," he grinned to them. "It looks delicious and I'm suddenly hungry!"

Gavin and Jim exchanged a pleased glance. Jim thought to himself that he would be sure that young Ensign Torres got a pat on the back for his thoughtfulness. He had obviously ordered the comfort food with Bones stress and worry in mind.

They got their plates and utensils, made their selections of food, and sat down at the table. "Mmmm, this is delicious," Jim said, eating quickly. He and Gavin didn't have much time before they had to beam out. "Bones," he said, "fill us in on what you and Spock have accomplished so far. Gavin and I will feel more at ease when we leave for Bern if we know how much progress you've made to find the cure," Jim said, fork in hand.

McCoy stopped eating. "We're makin' excellent progress." He looked down at his plate, his mouth a tight line. Then he looked up into the steadfast golden eyes that met his own; they were filled with empathy and understanding. "I gotta admit that I was mighty worried there for a while. No," he admitted, swallowing hard, "I was actually terrified that we wouldn't be able to help Baby Girl and Jocelyn and all the rest of those infected folks. But," he said with a faint smile, "I'm feelin' a lot more confident now thanks to the Vulcan research."

He nodded to Spock. "You go ahead and tell them, Spock."

"Very well, Doctor." Spock put down his fork and steepled his fingers. "The Vulcan healers were working on developing a two prong curative system; first, they wanted to create a Choriocytosis genotype, a specific viral vector delivery system for Vulcans and other copper based life forms; secondly, they wanted to develop a way to ensure the genetic repair of copper based blood type markers. **1** The healers assured me that their research was well advanced and a break through is not far in the future. However, Dr. McCoy and I have to modify this research so that the targets of the viral vector delivery system are for _iron based_ humanoid life forms. We have to, so to speak, reinvent some, but not all, of the wheels. The modifications must insure that the genetic repair is carried to the iron based hemoglobin, which is what facilitates the transportation of oxygen throughout the body. This is what Choriocytosis destroys, the ability to transport oxygen to the circulatory system and to the lungs and, thus, the victims succumb by suffocation if they are not treated quickly and appropriately."

Jim shuddered, remembering Spock's own bout with Choriocytosis. Bones nodded, face somber. "It's a bad way to die, that's for sure, and for sure ain't gonna' happen to Joanna or to her mother," he said, grimly. "Go on, Spock, explain the rest of it."

"Dr. McCoy and I are attempting to modify the virus carrying vector so that when it is introduced to an individual, it will specifically rewrite the damaged portion of the Choriocytosis viral gene and make it inert." He paused and Jim, who knew him so well, saw how his face changed slightly to show triumph and pleasure at how far they had come. "We are almost there," Spock said solemnly.

Bones grinned. "Yup, we're almost there. By tomorrow we should be ready to try it out with some virtual computer models of both the Vulcan and humanoid circulatory and pulmonary systems." He leaned back, suddenly looking drained and exhausted. Jim and Spock exchanged concerned glances.

"Bones," Jim said. "After dinner, you and Spock need to take a cat nap if you plan to go back to the lab. It won't do to make a mistake at this point in your research just because you're overtired," he said quietly and soothingly. "Even Spock looks a little tired," he added, looking warningly at the Vulcan. He didn't want Spock to come out with his usual, 'Vulcans do not get tired,' statement. Bones badly needed rest and he wouldn't do it if Spock tried to go back to the lab without him.

Spock ate a bite of his carrots. "It is true, Captain, that I am a little fatigued. However, I am quite sure that an hour of meditation will correct my fatigue and my concentration abilities will return to normal."

Bones looked worriedly over to the Vulcan. "You feelin' alright, Spock? Are you sure it's just tiredness and not somethin' else? I don't want you to overtax yourself, even Vulcans can get run down and catch somethin' from pushin' themselves," he said, looking around for his ever present tricorder.

"I am quite sure, Doctor. One hour of meditation will be sufficient. I am just a little fatigued and my back muscles could use a rest from bending for such a long amount of time."

"All right then, if you're sure. While you're meditatin' I'll catch a cat nap in the bedroom. That way when we go back to the lab, we can continue to work late into the night."

"An excellent plan, Doctor. We will both return to the laboratory refreshed and continue with our work, and tomorrow we will be ready for the virtual trials."

"Sounds good to me." Jim sent them both a pleased smile; time to change the subject. "Gavin and I read up on all the responsibilities and requirements of Forensic Auditors, and I think we're ready." He grinned. "If this Captain of the _Enterprise_ stuff doesn't work out down the road, I'll have a brand new career to fall back on."

Bones grinned too, but Spock was not amused. "I think such an eventuality is beyond the realm of possibilities, Captain."

Bones rolled his eyes. "He was kidding, Spock."

Gavin looked up from his padd. "I just got word from Sonnai Connolly; he's already in Bern, he was able to get away from the office earlier than he thought. He's checked into the hotel, and sent me our registration information. He's already working, hacking into the Bank's website to find out all about the bank, its main officers, how it's set up, the stockholders, etc. We'll have that extra intel to look at before tomorrow morning." He turned to Jim. "We're supposed to know all about the bank before we get there, so I'm forwarding it to you as I get it. He also received his forged IDs and credentials, so it looks like we're all set."

He stood up. "Jim, we'll have to beam out from here to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to New York and from New York to Bern. I've just made all our travel arrangements. We'll have to travel by public transport. I doubt if anyone will check on us, but it's best to cover our tracks. Forensic Auditors don't travel through Star Fleet channels. We won't wear our uniforms. In fact, we're going to look pretty casual; we'll be less conspicuous that way. We'll also need to take a jacket or overcoat; Bern is damn cold this time of the year."

Jim nodded and put his dirty dishes in the recycler. "I'll go pack my bag," he said.

"I'll come with you, Jim." McCoy also got rid of his dishes and followed Jim to the bedroom.

He sat on the bed as Jim pulled out enough clothes for the trip, his boots, boot knife, his locked Phaser case, his comm, and his coat. He glanced at Bones. "Something bothering you about this trip, Bones?"

Bones sighed. "Listen, Jim. I know Gavin is the very best at what he does and I'm really glad he's goin' with you. He's used to all this cloak and dagger stuff, but you're not." He threw Jim a worried glance. "These terrorists are not foolin' around. They're ruthless and as we've seen, they don't mind killin' people. I've got enough to worry about here with Joanna and Jocelyn, and I'm not gonna' be with you two, so please do me a favor and don't do anything stupid; please don't get shot, stabbed, kidnapped, or tortured, okay? Promise me, Jim."

"Bones!" Jim cast him a reproachful glance. "You talk as if I did that all the time and on purpose. I don't, Bones."

McCoy just rolled his eyes and didn't bother reminding him of all the times Jim had thrown himself into danger and his subsequent stays in Sick Bay. "I mean it, Jim. Promise me you won't do anything stupid or foolhardy."

Jim looked at the worried face of his friend. "All right, if it'll make you feel better, I promise. Gavin is taking the lead in this mission, anyway. He's the expert; I'm just going to help him out."

"Well, just remember that, okay?"

He got out his well worn jeans and his favorite plaid red flannel shirt and changed quickly, putting away his uniform in the closet. He wouldn't use it again, until he and Gavin returned from Bern. He finished packing, threw the heavy duffle over his shoulders and they went back to the living room.

Gavin too, had changed into jeans and a sweater, and his duffle bag was on the floor ready to go. "I called an aircab to take us to the public transporter station, Jim. It'll be here in a few minutes. I said we'd wait outside."

"I'm ready," Jim said. "Spock, Bones, we'll contact you when we get to Bern. Both of you get some rest and let me know how the drug trials go tomorrow. Bones, if you have a chance, call Ma and let her know how Joanna is doing. She's worried."

"I will, Jim. I'll comm her in the morning after Peter goes to school. Not sure it would be good for him to hear about this whole terrorist thing," he said. "Good luck."

"Yes, Captain, Commander. I, too, hope this journey proves to be fruitful and that you will discover the identity of the terrorist group."

Jim and Gavin went out the front door to wait for the air cab. Bern awaited them.

* * *

1 **Made up Science here.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 8**

 _ **"You can't choose what stays and what fades away**_

 _ **And I'd do anything to make you stay."**_

 **"No Light No Light" Song Lyrics**

Jim and Gavin stepped out of the public transporter in New York City. So far, the trip had been uneventful. Jim's disguise had not provoked a single second glance from anyone during their two transport hops. The transporter terminal in Atlanta had been very busy, and so was the one here in New York since both were important hubs to almost anywhere in the world. The good thing about transporters was the speed of travel, the bad thing about transporters was the queues and the expense. Transporter travel cost twice as much as shuttle travel; one had to pay extra for speed and convenience.

Gavin looked up at the digital displays until he found the NYC to Bern schedule. "We have a layover here, Jim. We won't be able to transport for another hour. You want to get a cup of coffee?"

"Yeah, coffee sounds good. I could use a pick me up," Jim said.

They found a coffee shop, filled their mugs from the selections on the counter, and picked an out of the way table so they could talk without being overheard. Jim looked around, there was no one sitting close to them, but it was best to take no chances.

"So, you and Violet, huh?" He grinned at the sudden slight flush on Gavin's face. "I'm really happy for you, Gavin; Violet and Davy too, of course. You're a lucky man," he said, his face turning serious.

"I know it," Gavin said, just as serious. "I think I fell in love with her the first time I saw her at your house," he smiled. remembering. "I didn't believe in love at first sight, but she proved me wrong."

"Yeah, as I recall, you were pretty taken with her from the beginning. When do you think you'll get married? If you give me enough advance notice, I might be able to swing a couple of days of leave to attend the wedding. I wouldn't want to miss it."

"We haven't decided on a date yet." Gavin looked up and met the hazel eyes, his own gray eyes pensive. "There's some stuff we have to work out; like where to live and our careers. Violet has a very important job, and I travel an awful lot. We've also talked about my adopting Davy legally. Violet and I would make sure he'd never forget his own father, what a good man he was, but I love that little guy like he was my own. Also, you and Winona know just how dangerous my job is; **1** Violet's already lost one husband, and it's not fair to her to have to deal with the knowledge that I may not come back from some mission gone wrong." He sighed; he loved his job, the challenges, the danger, the sense of pride he felt serving Star Fleet, but it was hard on loved ones and significant others. "At least we'll be officially engaged as soon as we can shop for a ring after we finish this mission. When we set the date, we'd love for you to be there," he added. "Neither of us have much family left, I only have my brother, and Violet only has distant relatives, so it would mean a lot to us if you, Winona, and Peter were there."

"Ma and Peter won't miss it for sure, and I'll try my best to be there, I promise," Jim looked at his friend, his voice soft. "You and Violet will figure it all out, Gavin. Violet is an amazing woman, and Davy is a son any man would be proud to call his own. He already loves you like a dad. I have confidence that things will work out." They sat in comfortable silence, mindful of the throng of people walking close to them. The overhead speakers announced the first call to Bern, and they got up and walked to the transporter station.

They handed their tickets to the attendant and stepped up to stand on the large public transporter pad. The attendant went to his console, put in the coordinates and Jim felt the slight disorientation that always accompanied beaming. They both materialized in the designated beam-in location in front of the Hotel Pension Marthahaus, which was centrally located and close to the Bern bullet train station. The hotel was also within walking distance to the United Federation World Bank.

Jim and Gavin went into the lobby where they were welcomed warmly by the clerk. The clerk looked at his hotel registration computer. "Welcome, to the Hotel Marthahaus, gentlemen. Your suite is ready for you, Mr. McCall and Mr. Corrigan. It has two bedrooms, an office area with two desks, two comm stations, and a comfortable living room as well as a small kitchenette. We have a few larger suites for longer stays, and I believe this one is just what you requested. I understand you will be staying for a few days?" He looked up at them, his gaze bland and uninterested.

"Yes, that's correct," said Gavin, handing over his credit chip. "We're bank auditors and it's time for the yearly audit of several of the Bern banks."

"Ah," said the clerk, "a thankless task, I'm sure." His Standard was flawless, Jim noted. Bern was a worldwide hub for banking and politics, so being fluent in several languages without the use of the universal translator was a big asset.

The clerk pushed a button and a young man appeared. The clerk smirked noting Jim's surprise. "Our hotel does not use robot gurneys to transport luggage. We believe in personal service and face to face interactions with all our guests. Stanislaus, please show these gentlemen their rooms, and take up their bags."

"Yes sir, please come with me, gentlemen." He led them to the lift and to the third floor. Their suite was not far from the lift, and Stanislaus opened the door by keying in his code. "Here you are," he said, handing each of them their entry code cards. "It's one of our nicer suites. If you need anything, please push this button here," he said, indicating the front desk all call button. "Dinner begins at 8 pm Bern time and the dining room is directly adjacent to the lobby. We dine late here in Bern. There's water, snacks and fruit in your refrigeration unit in the kitchenette. Maid service begins at 7:00 am, but if you don't want to be disturbed just press the privacy button here," he said pointing to the door. "Room service is by beam in; just call the front desk to give your order."

"Thank you, Stanislaus." Gavin handed him some credits and closed the door behind him and locked it. He and Jim looked at each other. "Okay, glad that's over with. Let me con Sonnai and tell him we're here. He said his room was next door to ours. Maybe we can unlock the connecting door and Sonnai won't have to keep going out to the hallway. The less we're seen the better."

He opened his communicator and connected with Agent Connolly immediately. "We're here, Sonnai, come on over, we're right next door."

There was a knock on the door almost immediately and Gavin let in the SIS agent. He stepped in and shook hands with Gavin and Jim stepped forward to be introduced.

"Captain Kirk, an honor, Sir."

"Jim, please. No formalities here."

"Yes, Sir and I'm Sonnai. I've been truly looking forward to working with yae."

Jim heard the very faint Gaelic accent; he saw a tall, slender young man, younger even than Gavin. He looked like, what in ancient days, would have been described as 'Black Irish' with his dark hair and dark eyes, uncommon in the usual fair Irish genotype. Since the Kirk surname had its origins in Scotland and Ireland, Jim, at one time, had done extensive research into Gaelic and Scottish names. He remembered reading that The Black Irish were once thought to be decedents of the Spanish sailors from the Spanish Armada, or from a group of Spanish soldiers who served under Irish chiefs around the 1500's and stayed long enough to father children. Hence, the dark hair and eyes and darker complexion in some of the Irish of today.

"Come sit, Sonnai," Gavin said, as he ushered him into the living area. "Tell us what you've done so far."

Sonnai brought out his working padd and sat down. Jim and Gavin sat across him in the armchairs also brought out their padds. "I'm sending you the updated list of all the bank officers and other pertinent information about the bank's assets. It's got quite a portfolio, and it caters to very wealthy individuals who insist on privacy and anonymity. The bank is known for that, they protect the privacy of their clients tooth and nail. It's a very conservative bank and has an excellent, honest reputation in their monetary transactions and the bank's own portfolios. So far, there hasn't ever been a whisper of wrong doing by the bank itself, but I'm sure some of their larger accounts are the products of illegal activities. The bank asks no questions of its depositors, no matter how big the deposit is."

He looked up from his padd. "I've made sure our credentials are above suspicion, but be aware that they won't be happy to see us. In the past, there have been some efforts by law enforcement agencies to get financial information about some of their clients, but they have all been unsuccessful. The bank stonewalls, delays and puts legal roadblocks in the way of any deep investigations. There hasn't been a Forensic bank audit in almost 10 years. This really isn't unusual, there are just too many banks in the Federation, and even on Terra, and there just aren't enough Forensic bank auditors to go around. There is a general audit every year, as required by law, but it's just a superficial audit conducted by private Bern auditors done just to submit paperwork to the World Bank Commission. A true Forensic audit is something very different, so be prepared for no cooperation and even some animosity."

"They won't have a choice," Jim said grimly, 'and neither do we. We have to do this, we have to stop these terrorists some how, and the bank officers can't be worse than angry and uncooperative Klingons. We'll manage."

Sonnai sputtered with laughter. "I'm sure there's no comparison, Jim."

Jim grinned. "We'll see," he said, scratching at his itchy mustache.

Gavin glanced at him and smiled. "Take it off, Jim. You won't need it on again until we go down to dinner and I can put it back on quickly."

Jim pulled the mustache off with a jerk and sighed with relief.

Sonnai went on. "The bank opens at 9:00 am for their staff and at 10:00 am for business. We're expected at 9:00 am. The bank general manager is our liaison, and his name is Theo Bichel, he's been with the bank for 12 years." He sat back. "I think that's it; everything else that I thought might be relevant, I've forwarded to you."

"Excellent job, Sonnai," Gavin said. He got up and went to the connecting door. "Let me see if I can unlock this door so we don't have to go out in the hall." He pulled out his pocket tool kit, tinkered with the door, and opened it. "There you go, Sonnai."

"That was fast, Gavin. You could have had a thriving career as a burglar of jewel thief," Jim teased. "You'll have to teach me that trick. Spock can do it also, but not me. I usually just shoot down the door," he laughed.

"Always glad to enlarge your areas of expertise, Captain. You never know when these kinds of skills will come in handy."

Jim checked his chronometer. "It's almost time for dinner, but I want to check in with Bones and Spock before we go down. Excuse me," he said walking into the other bedroom.

Jim flipped open his personal communicator and waited for Bones to pick up.

"Jim, I'm here." Bones' voice sounded a little tinny. "How are things?"

"We made it to Bern just fine, no problems. We've checked into the hotel and the other SIS agent is here too. Bones, how are you, how are things there? Any more progress? How is Baby Girl?"

"I'm holding up, Jim. It's kinda hard to see my little girl like she is, but at least Jo is the same, she hasn't gotten worse, and neither has Jocelyn. The stasis was a good temporary solution until we find a cure. We've made a lot more progress this evening. Spock and I are in two separate labs; we're getting more done that way. We've identified the precise mechanism of interaction that triggered Jo and Jocelyn's strain of the disease. We're now in the process of identifying which allele is the alternative form of the gene that's located at a specific position on the specific chromosome that caused the tertiary gene involvement that triggered the disease. Once we have the answer to that, I can try the viral vector therapy to treat Jo and everyone else **." 2** Jim heard him draw a deep breath. "Whatever the hell I have to do, to cure Joanna, I'm gonna' do it, Jim.

"I know you will, Bones, and I know you and Spock will find the cure. Did you manage to get some rest?"

"Yeah, I took a nap and Spock meditated for about an hour, so we would be alert doing this work; it's very exact and difficult work, but we're managin'"

"Good. I'll comm again tomorrow after our day at the bank to update you and Spock. Don't stay up too late. Good night, Bones."

"Night, Jim."

Jim closed his comm and immediately punched in Spock's code. He was happy Spock was in another lab so he could speak with him about Bones. The Vulcan picked up immediately.

"Spock, here."

"Spock. It's Jim."

"Captain, I am gratified to hear your voice. How is your mission progressing?"

"It's going well so far."

Jim brought him up to date on their day and Sonnai's intel and their plans for tomorrow. "Spock, I want you to keep an eye on Bones. He said you two are really getting someplace with your research, but you know how he is. Be sure he gets some sleep and gets some nourishing food down him, okay? He'll keep working until he collapses from lack of sleep and fatigue, especially since it's all for Joanna. I'm not there to keep an eye on him, so I'm depending on you to do it."

"I will endeavor to do so, Captain. However, Dr. McCoy is remarkably uncaring about his own well being, and very recalcitrant about taking measures to ensure his health."

Jim sighed, he knew Bones' stubbornness all too well. "I know he is, Spock, but I have faith in your powers of persuasion."

"I will endeavor to not disappoint you, Captain."

"Thanks, Spock; and keep me posted. It sounds like you're very close to a cure. "

"I believe we are, Captain. Thanks to the Vulcan research, we have accomplished in hours, what would otherwise have taken us days without it. I am certain a cure is not far off."

"That's fantastic news, Spock! I'll comm again tomorrow. Take care. Kirk out."

Jim went back to the living room and sat down. Gavin flipped his communicator closed.

"I just finished my report to Admiral Nogura. He said there's been no further communication from the terrorists. Also, he said the new infected victims are holding their own. They're being very closely monitored and if they get worse, they'll be put in stasis like Joanna and Ms. Darnell."

"Hopefully by tomorrow we'll have more intel," Jim said. He looked at his chronometer. "I'm getting hungry, shall we go down to dinner or order room service?"

"Let's order from room service. The less we're seen the better, and" Gavin grinned, 'if we stay in I won't have to put your mustache back on."

"That's motivation enough, for me," Jim said, and got up to call the front desk to see what was on the menu.

* * *

 **1** **See "Ring of Treason"**

 **2** **More dubious Science thanks to Wikipedia**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 9**

" **If I can't make it through one door,**

 **I'll go through another door- or I'll make a door. "  
― ****Rabindranath Tagore**

Jim, Gavin, and Sonnai prepared themselves for the meeting with the United Federation World Bank at 8 am. Gavin made sure Jim's mustache was safely back on his face. Last night they'd had dinner beamed in by room service, and then they'd gone over their undercover protocols once more. The three felt ready for their meeting. Sonnai had his hacking SIS software highly encrypted and hidden in his working padd. No one but he and Gavin would be able to access it and any cursory look into his padd would reveal nothing.

Jim had slept well, considering the importance of this mission, but he'd honed his ability to sleep whenever he'd had the chance during many hazardous and delicate missions on the _Enterprise._ Gavin, too, had learned to sleep when and where he had the opportunity to do so.

This morning, breakfast had again been beamed in; they dressed in their conservative suits and inspected each other's appearance and got ready to go. They took the lift down to the first floor, and walked out into the beautiful crisp morning air that Bern was currently enjoying. The walk to the bank was short, and Gavin pulled out his communicator to contact the Bank Manager to let them in the large glass doors at the front of the bank.

The security guard came to unlock the doors and ushered them in. A tall, thin, balding middle aged man came up to them.

"Gentlemen, welcome. I'm Theo Bichel, the Bank Manager. We've been expecting you." The three men shook hands and murmured pleasant introductory platitudes. Gavin introduced himself as, Ryan McCall, Jim as Jordan Thomas Corrigan, and Sonnai, as Travis Cassetti.

"Please come into my office while I check over your credentials and then I'll show you where you will be working."

Again, Jim noted, Mr. Bichel's command of Standard was flawless and without the use of the universal translator; such was the power of credits. Bichel led them to a spacious room lined with bookcases in dark wood. There was a large antique desk with a comfortable office chair, two small sofas situated on the side walls, a large area rug in russets and blues on the floor, and three comfortable mahogany leather side chairs in front of the desk. The walls were paneled in distressed, dark oak, and the large window looked out on a green space adjacent to the bank.

"If I may see your credentials, please both hard and soft copies?"

Each of them handed him their IDs and credentials as well as their padds opened to the pertinent documents. Bichel piled the hard copies and padds on his desk and one by one scrutinized them carefully. He then opened the large comm on his desk and studied what he had on the screen, looking from the screen to each hard copy he held in his hand, then to each padd, and then to each of the three men. They sat silent as he worked. Jim and Gavin exchanged glances. Their credentials were being very closely scrutinized. Bichel did not hurry, but he didn't dawdle either. His movements were precise and efficient, his long fingers carefully setting down each hard copy and padd as he finished.

"Everything seems to be in order, gentlemen. I apologize for the delay in getting you started, but as you must be aware, we here in the bank must be extremely careful about security."

"Of course, Mr. Bichel. We expected nothing else from a bank as prestigious as yours. It is to your credit, that you take security concerns so seriously."

Bichel inclined his head in graceful acknowledgement.

Gavin continued. "I am the lead Forensic Auditor of this team," he said. Mr. Corrigan and Mr. Cassetti will be assisting me. I anticipate that a complete audit will take at least two full days, perhaps a little more. It has, after all, been ten years since your last Forensic Audit. We may have to work late after your bank closes. Will you please make arrangements if that's the case?"

"I and the security guard will stay here with you, Mr. McCall, as late as you require. We can bring in food and drinks if you'd rather not go out and interrupt your work. I am at your disposal for anything you might need." Bichel leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed and at ease. "I'm sure you'll find that everything is in order. In the years I have been with the bank, not one of our clients had ever complained about anything regarding deposits or withdrawals of their assets."

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Mr. Bichel. Your bank has an excellent reputation."

"Thank you, Sir," he stood. "If you will come with me, I'll show you where you will be working. If there is anything you need, please let me know. Here are all the access codes for all deposits and withdrawals, as well as the codes for all transactions for stocks and bonds the bank has made. If you need different access codes, please let me know. The encryption keys are here." He handed Gavin a tiny padd. "Please put your index finger here," he said, and opened his own padd. "Now the main bank computer will recognize your access to the information you require." He beckoned to Jim and Sonnai, and they, too, placed their fingers on the mini encryption pad. "After the audit is completed all encryption keys will be changed," he said. "That is for our protection and yours as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Bichel. Now I think it's time to get started, so if you would show us where we're going to work?"

"Yes, of course, come this way."

The room they were allotted was spacious and comfortable. There were three work stations and plenty of desk room for each of them. There was also a large conference table set with four chairs against the wall. Mr. Bichel explained the layout of the bank, where the men's room was located, and the name of their assigned "gofer" Albin Gessner.

"He is assigned to you for the duration of your day, Mr. McCall. If you need anything, please call him with this button."

"Thank you, Mr. Bichel. We appreciate your cooperation."

Bichel nodded and left the room.

The three men looked at each other in silence; Jim took a deep breath. "We'd better get started."

Sonnai nodded and took out his comm and a tiny device. "Yeah." He ran his hands across his neck, flipped a tiny switch on the side of the device and placed it on the table. "This is a sound dampener. I feel sure there are listening devices that the bank has set up throughout the bank. It's standard procedure. When I press this, whatever we say here, won't be heard by anyone outside this room, and when I let go they can hear our conversation." Sonnai held up the device to show it was safe to talk.

"Good; I'm sure we'll have plenty to say that shouldn't be overheard," Jim said, looking around for devices.

Sonnai let go of the tiny side button and they sat down, each of them at a different workstation. Gavin looked at the two men. "I'm going to call up some of the accounts so we can see how the bank has processed the deposits and withdrawals. I've forwarded the encryption keys to you both so you can view them. What I want us to do is divide the accounts equally between us. I'll call up all the smallest deposits first, and we'll get that out of the way, then we'll go on to the next set, and finally the largest deposits. Is that agreeable to you as a division of labor, Jordan and Travis?"

The two men said yes, opened their comms and began to converse about random topics; their made up families, vacation plans, places they'd worked, and Jim even added a few grumbles about their non existent bosses.

They worked quietly for a couple of hours, getting comfortable with the way the deposits were handled. Gavin scanned the account numbers in his batch, but found nothing. Jim too, scanned his batch with no results and Sonnai looked over and shook his head silently. The account number the terrorists had given Admiral Nogura hadn't shown up yet. Jim rubbed his forehead tiredly. It had to be here; the extortionists couldn't take a chance that 50 million credits wouldnt be deposited because of a non existent account number. He leaned back in his chair to think.

The door opened suddenly and Albin Gessner walked in with a large tray. There was a carafe of coffee, cups and saucers and an assortment of pastries. "Gentlemen, it is customary here in Switzerland to stop work mid morning for coffee. We stagger our bank employees for a 20 minute break. We find that work is done more efficiently and more quickly when our employees refresh themselves with coffee and pastries."

Jim smiled his most charming smile. "It's a great idea, Mr. Gessner. I'm going to pass it on to the Bank Commission." He closed down his comm and Gavin and Sonnai did the same. Gessner poured out the coffee and passed around the filled cups.

"Have you worked here long, Mr. Gessner?" Jim asked pleasantly, as he picked up a pastry and bit into it. His hazel eyes opened wide. It was delicious!

"Yes, Mr. Corrigan, I've been with the bank for over ten years. When I finished banking school, I came here and I've been here ever since. It's a good place to work. All the bank employees are treated well, and there is room for advancement. Mr. Bichel is a considerate employer and I enjoy the company of my co workers." He nodded to them and said, "If there is anything else you require, please let me know." He bowed politely and left the room.

Sonnai brought out the sound dampener, and placed it on the desk. He nodded to show the button had been engaged.

Jim sighed. "Where is that damn account number? We're missing something here," he said in frustration.

Sonnai nodded. "I agree. It shouldn't be this hard to find. I'm sure the Admiral gave us the correct number," he mumbled, his mouth full of the rich pastry.

"I have a copy of the extortion letter here," Gavin said. "It is the right account number; I've checked and double checked. So what are we missing?"

Jim leaned back in his chair. "Let me think a minute," he said and closed his eyes.

Gavin and Sonnai sat silently and patiently for a few minutes, gazing at him. By now Gavin was very familiar with Jim's tactical mind, his thought processes during a mission; the rapid calculations that sifted and discarded problems, ideas, and scenarios until he was satisfied he'd arrived at the right answer. It was a powerful combination of brilliance, instinct, experience and blind luck that converged in Jim Kirk's brain and had made him the foremost tactician in Star Fleet at such a young age. Finally, Jim's hazel eyes opened wide, his grin triumphant. He made a slashing gesture across his throat to Sonnai, who nodded and double checked the button on the dampener.

"I'm an idiot," Jim said. "We've been looking in the wrong group of accounts. These are all active accounts with credits in them. We need to look at the inactive accounts. There hasn't been any credits deposited in that account yet!"

"Of course!" Gavin said. "We're all idiots! Good thinking, Jim. Sonnai, let's pull out all the inactive accounts. We don't know when the account was opened, so we better go back several months or even years. It may have been left inactive for a while until their plan was put in motion."

Sonnai began his search, fingers flying on the padd as he searched. The office doors opened and Theo Bichel came in. "Gentlemen, how are things progressing? Do you need anything?"

"We're doing fine, Mr. Bichel. Everything seems to be in good order so far, it certainly helps to make the work we do go quickly and smoothly." Gavin looked up at the tall figure of Bichel and smiled genially.

"Good, good. I also want to inform you that luncheon for the three of you will be served in one hour in the board room. Just go out these doors, through the hall way and to the last room on your left. If there is any type of food that you can't eat, please let me know and I'll tell the caterer."

"We eat everything, Mr. Bichel," Jim said. "Thank you for your hospitality. We were going to get a quick meal somewhere close by."

"No need for that, young man. We here in Switzerland, as well as here at United Federation World Bank, pride ourselves on our hospitality. Now please excuse me, gentlemen, I'll leave you to your work and I'll see you at lunch."

Gavin, Jim and Sonnai watched him leave the room, and Sonnai turned the sound dampener back on.

"Interesting," Jim said. "I wonder if the hospitality is to keep us here under his eye, or if they're usually that welcoming to Forensic Auditors."

"Probably a little of both," said Gavin.

They continued to work, searching inactive account files for the correct one. The comprehensive computer search that Sonnai did, proved futile since the bank computer would not open batches of inactive accounts. They had to search for the account number one by one since the accounts were not in numerical order, but rather by the date when the account was opened. Gavin divided and assigned the many inactive account numbers among the three of them hoping to speed up the process. Another question had come up. Was the account number an old inactive account that had been dormant for years, and as such would not attract suspicion when the deposit went through, or was it a new account set up specifically for the 50 million deposit?

It was tedious and slow work; the bank had many inactive accounts with little or no money in them and it was obvious that many had been abandoned; they had not been accessed in a long time.

The clock was ticking; it would be time for lunch very soon, and they would be interrupted. Sonnai informed them that they would have to close all the files with the inactive accounts searches in case someone came in while they were at lunch to check on what they had been doing. He would erase their search trails, but valuable time would be lost opening all their searches again.

Jim quietly suggested that he should stay behind to keep anyone from coming in, but Gavin refused. "It would look suspicious, that we have something to hide," he said. Reluctantly, Jim had to agree.

Suddenly Sonnai stopped working and held up a hand with the sound device engaged. "I found it," he said. "Here it is, **_account number 84-490 597,_** opened five years ago. So not only was it inactive and abandoned, there has been a zero balance in it for the last 5 years." He looked closely at it and his fingers flew over the padd. "The original account holder's name was tampered with and somehow removed and two new names replaced it. Bingo! We've found them!"

The door suddenly opened and Albin Gessner walked in.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 10**

" **There were some hard times,**

 **But in the end, the successes will always remain."**

 **Conchita Martinez**

McCoy opened his eyes to a room filled with a pale grayish light. He glanced at his chrono and saw it was only 6:00 am; no wonder it was still dark outside, the San Francisco sun rarely made an appearance before 7 am. He yawned as fatigue dragged at him, but he knew the tiredness was more mental than physical. He had slept well and dreamlessly for a change. He turned to face the other twin bed and saw that it was empty. Spock must be up and about already. The smell of coffee and other good things reached him from the kitchen; he sat up in bed and reached for his robe while his feet sought his slippers; they were not to be found. He huffed in annoyance; he'd look for them later. San Francisco mornings were always chilly and he needed them.

He padded to the kitchen in his socks and saw Spock at the stove. "Morning, Spock. How are you this morning? What are you doin'?"

"Good morning, Doctor. I am well, and I'm making breakfast for us. Eggs, toast and fried tomatoes for you; porridge and tea for me. Is that acceptable?"

"Absolutely, Spock. Thank you. I'm hungry this morning for a change. I think I'd forgotten what hunger felt like. My stomach's been in knots since Jim broke the news to me about Joanna."

"That is understandable, Leonard." Spock put his and McCoy's plate on the table. He waited for McCoy to sit down before he sat too. "I am gratified that your appetite has returned. You must have adequate nourishment and rest to be at your best."

"Yeah, you're right, Spock, and I'll try to do better now that we've gotten through so much of our research." He swallowed some strong black coffee and ate hungrily. The eggs were good; fluffy and not over done, the tomatoes, fried just like he liked them, and the toast was still warm when he put a pat of butter on it.

"Good job on the breakfast, Spock, it's mighty good. Thank you."

Spock nodded and mindful of Jim's injunction to him to watch over McCoy asked, "Did you sleep well, Doctor?"

"Yeah, I slept like a log. I was real tired last night and I'm still a little tired this morning. Guess I should have slept a little longer. Have you heard anythin' from Jim?"

"Not yet. I believe we will not hear anything until this afternoon or this evening. Today was their first full day at the bank. We can rest assured that the Captain will report to us as soon as he is able."

McCoy sighed. "I surely hope so, Spock. I worry 'bout that boy, 'specially when I'm not with him. I sure hope we can find the terrorists. Jim was mighty mad 'bout Joanna, although I could tell he was holdin' it in for my sake. You know how much he loves Jo." He rose from the table and took his plate and coffee mug to the recycler. "I'm gonna' take a shower and then we can go. I want to look in on Jo before we go back to the lab, and maybe check in and see how Jocelyn is holdin' up. Jim will want a report on how baby girl is doin'."

"I will clean the kitchen and make our beds while you shower, Doctor. We will leave as soon as you are ready to go."

McCoy finished his shower, dressed, looked for his lost slippers and found them under the bed, then checked his comm again. There was still nothing from Jim. McCoy was anxious to hear what they'd discovered at the bank; if they'd gotten anywhere in their search for the names of the terrorists. He met Spock at the door, and they walked to SFM. There was only pale diffused sunlight peeking up over the horizon, and there was fog, thick, and smoky, hovering over the bay. The San Francisco Bridge looked ominous peeking in and out of the dense fog. The morning was chilly and he was glad of his SF issued jacket this morning. Spock too, was wearing his. Both Bones, being from warm Georgia, and Spock, from hot Vulcan, generally disliked the chilly weather. Jim, being from frigid Iowa, was the one who enjoyed the cold.

They reached the hospital and went through the onerous security checks and walked down the hall to Joanna's room. "I will go directly to the lab, Leonard. Take as much time as you need with your daughter and with Ms. Darnell. I will be running our computer simulations so there is not need for you to hurry. I will meet you in the lab," said Spock.

McCoy nodded and entered Joanna's room. The room was softly lit and the little girl was on her back this time. The nurse had changed her pajamas; they were covered with yellow baby ducks similar to the ones that McCoy had sent her for Easter. The nurse stood by the bed, her gloved hands gently running a sponge over the little girl. Joanna received a bath every morning. They could have used a sonic on her, it was faster and did a great job, but research had shown that patients who were unconscious or in stasis, needed to be gently touched several times a day. McCoy noticed her long brown hair was brushed, shining in the soft light of the room and spread out behind her on the bed. The nurse nodded and smiled. "Good morning, Dr. McCoy."

McCoy looked at her name tag. "Morning, Nurse Gardetto. How's my little girl doing this morning?"

"She's doing well, Doctor. Her vital signs are all good; I weighed her this morning and she hasn't lost any weight. Her PT is scheduled for 8 am. Today the therapist will be working with her neck, shoulders, and legs. This afternoon, it will be her arms, fingers, and hips. Her reflexes are still very good; I checked them all this morning" She handed him a padd. "Here's her chart with all the notations from the 10 pm, 2 am and 6 am shifts."

McCoy checked the chart carefully. All her vital signs were good. He was satisfied with what he saw; Joanna was doing well. It was always tricky when a patient was in an induced coma or in stasis. Great vigilance was required of all the medical staff to make sure the body didn't deteriorate during that time. Muscle mass was lost quickly, as was bone density, especially in a child Joanna's age. Her artificial feeding had to be carefully calibrated to be sure she received enough calories, calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients that growing children got as a matter of course during their day. She was weighed twice a day, and the physical therapist checked her reflexes and muscle mass twice daily. The nutritionist checked her blood calcium, minerals, and vitamin D on a daily basis.

"Thank you, Nurse Gardetto. We're hoping she won't have to be in stasis much longer. I'll come again during my lunch hour," McCoy's gloved hand stroked her soft cheek and he ran a long finger down her small nose. His hand brushed lightly over her forehead; even through the glove, he could tell that she was cool to the touch, her skin soft and supple and her lips and cheeks had their usual rosy hue. She looked healthy. He left Joanna's room and went next door to check on Jocelyn. Her nurse also reported that all was well with Joanna's mother and McCoy, checking her chart, saw that she too, was holding her own.

McCoy walked down the corridor and stood in front of the lab door, but not close enough to trigger the door opening. He breathed deeply, centering himself and reining in his excitement and high expectations, trying to distance himself from outside worries and concerns, divorcing his mind from his deep constant worry about Joanna. Right now, he had to put everything aside and focus only on his medical expertise and extensive scientific and research knowledge in order to be an effective researcher and doctor. He'd had a lot of practice doing this; it was what he always had to do when Jim was brought to him torn and bleeding, sometimes at death's door. He sighed; he was not always successful.

He entered the lab, grabbed his lab coat and saw that Spock was already at work, deeply focused on the virtual computer models. This morning's simulation was the effects of the inert Choriocytosis gene therapy on Vulcan and humanoid circulatory and pulmonary systems. McCoy and Spock both knew they were very close to a cure and this simulation was the last one they would have to do. McCoy sent a mental thank you to Dr. Sobar, the main researcher at the Vulcan Science Academy. His findings had been invaluable in hastening the search for the cure. Later today, their results would be forwarded to him and his research team on Vulcan.

"Doctor, all the virtual computer models will conclude in 43 minutes. If they are successful, which I am 97.4 percent certain that they will be, we can proceed to the next step."

 _The next step_ , thought McCoy, _is a doozy._ He and Spock would need to determine the exact mechanism that had triggered the mutated Choriocytosis strain in Jo, Jocelyn, and the other infected patients. They would then target their new specially designed viral gene therapy to fight the terrorist engineered Choriocytosis virus in their DNA (and those of other humanoid species such as Vulcans) and then rewrite the genetic sequence with an alternate version that would make the terrorist virus inert and harmless.

If they could do that, then the infected patients' immune systems would reset and they would recover. In other words, Spock's and McCoy's designer gene therapy would specifically rewrite the damaged portion of the infected organism's genome.

The benefits of this type of therapy, was that resequencing the Choriocytosis virus, was not invasive and there would be no need for further tinkering with the patients' DNA. Also, there was a low risk of debilitating side effects and no reason to put Joanna, Jocelyn, or any of the other patients through potentially hazardous medical treatments and drugs. The idea was simple and elegant. Their gene therapy had only one job to do; modify a potentially lethal mutated virus and fix it. McCoy and Spock had no wish to manufacture a cure that was worse than the disease. **1**

McCoy, long used to exhibiting patience during lab trials, waited silently by Spock's side until the computer finished the virtual models. At last the computer beeped; it had finished. Spock brought up the results on the screen and then printed them. He handed McCoy a hard copy and they looked at the results. After a careful scan of the results, a big grin broke out on McCoy's face. "We did it, Spock. It works!"

"Indeed, Doctor. I am most gratified. I must send these findings immediately to Dr. Sobar. He also will be gratified that we have succeeded where they could not."

"You really think they'll be happy we found the answer when they couldn't, Spock?"

"Of course, Doctor. It would be highly illogical for Vulcans to feel anything other than gratified that we have found a cure for this dread disease. Once we have replicated and used the actual cure, it can be sent across the galaxy; this disease and all its variants will be eradicated."

"You're right, Spock. I was thinkin' like a human and not like a Vulcan," McCoy grinned at Spock.

"Indeed." Spock said, one eyebrow quirked. "Let us begin with the next step of our work, Doctor. Perhaps by the end of the day, we will have the actual cure in our hands ready to use on Joanna and the others."

"From your mouth to God's ears, Spock." McCoy told him solemnly.

Spock opened his mouth, no doubt to express his doubt about that unlikely possibility, but McCoy interrupted by raising his hand. "No need to say anythin', Spock. It's just a figure of speech." He opened his comm. "I'm thinkin' that we should update Admiral Nogura, let him know how close we are to having the cure in our hands, just in case he gets another letter from the terrorists. He'll feel a lot less pressure if he knows their threats are empty now. Not that he'd ever cave in to them," McCoy said, "but it will buy him some peace of mind."

"I believe you are correct, Doctor. Admiral Nogura looked very tired and stressed during our meeting. This news will greatly ease his mind."

"When we hear from Jim and Gavin this evening, we'll have real good news for them. I hope they'll have good news for us too, about who these men really are." McCoy said, stepping to the back of the lab with his comm to update the Admiral on the cure. The lab doors suddenly opened and Ensign Torres and the Admiral walked in.

"Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock, good morning."

"Admiral, this is a surprise! We weren't expectin' you this morning."

"I just wanted to check in with you, before I begin my day."

"And I was just gonna' comm you. We have very good news, Sir," McCoy said. "Mr. Spock and I are ready to replicate the cure."

At McCoy's words, the Admiral's usually inscrutable face broke into a big smile. McCoy realized he had never seen the Admiral smile before. He was known as Old Stone Face for a reason. Now his smile transformed his face and made him almost unrecognizable.

"Excellent news! Well done, gentlemen. I knew I picked the right officers to do this work. Fill me in."

McCoy and Spock alternated in explaining the science and their processes to the Admiral as he listened attentively. They showed him the computer simulation reports and explained how they planned to engineer and replicate the modified virus gene to manufacture the cure.

"I am very relieved," Nogura said. "Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, if you need any additional help, please let Ensign Torres know. We will bring in more techs to help you during the replicating stage. We want to manufacture the cure as quickly as possible and make as many doses as we can manage right away. We have several lab replicators available here. We may get more sick people before this is over."

"I thought we had three days, Admiral? Isn't that what that damn letter said?" asked McCoy.

"Yes, that's what it said, Doctor, but we can't place any trust in these people; who knows what they're willing to do for those 50 million credits." He sighed tiredly. Sleep had been elusive since the first terrorist attack. "Have either of you heard anything from Commander Bradford or Captain Kirk?"

"No, Sir." Spock said. "I anticipate we will hear something this evening after their first full day at the bank, and I am sure that Commander Bradford will report to you at that time."

"I hope so, Mr. Spock. Although our first priority is the cure, I'm also anxious to hear what they found at the bank. I want to apprehend and punish these terrorists. They're blight on our planet. I'll be on my way, gentlemen and let you get back to work. Ensign Torres is at your disposal should you need anything."

"Thank you, Admiral."

Spock and McCoy got right back to work. For the first time since Jim had broken the news to him about Joanna, the knot in McCoy's stomach had disappeared. He felt hopeful that his baby girl would soon be well; up and running around with her usual exuberance very soon. Jocelyn too, he told himself. Even if she had made his life miserable in many ways, and had made his access to Joanna extremely difficult, he had no wish to see her like she was.

He and Spock worked all morning, stopping only for the quick bite to eat that Ensign Torres brought them. Spock was being especially strict about stopping for meals. In his heart, McCoy knew he was right, they needed to stay well nourished, rested and hydrated to do their best work, but he resented even the short time that eating took away from their pursuit of the cure.

It was late in the afternoon when Spock straightened up from his viewer. "I believe we've done it, Leonard. Look here."

McCoy stopped breathing. He almost dove into the viewer to check Spock's work. He went over it once, twice, three times before he raised his head. "You're right, Spock. We've done it. We can start replicating the cure!"

He pitched himself at Spock and gave him a big hug; a huge grin on his face. Spock stood rigid in his arms. "Dr. McCoy, there is no need for such an overt display of jubilation. A "well done" or even a pat on the arm would have been more than sufficient."

"Shut it, you green hobgoblin. I'll hug you if I want to. This here cure is somethin' that deserves a hug. Just wait until Jim hears. He's gonna' be so happy! So will the Admiral. We'll start replicatin' all the doses this evening, Spock, and we'll be ready to give the first infected patients the cure first thing tomorrow morning. Let's go share the good news with the Admiral. This is something that should be told to him in person."

"I quite agree, Doctor. After we share our news with the Admiral, we will have a good dinner, rest for an hour, and then come back to the lab and begin the work on the Replicators. We'll test the first batch of the virus early tomorrow morning and if everything goes as well as I believe it will, by noon tomorrow we will be able to distribute the cure to all the infected patients."

"Spock, you know what Jim gonna' say?"

Spock shook his head.

"He's gonna' say that it's not just me that can cure a rainy day, it's you too, you amazin' green blooded elf!"

* * *

1 **Three paragraphs of made up, but some real Science. Thanks, Wiki.**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 11**

 **"Acting is all about honesty,**

 **if you fake that,**

 **you've got it made."**

 **George Burns**

It was only Jim's lightning fast reflexes that saved them from Albin Gessner walking toward the comms and looking at their open files. As soon as Gessner appeared at the door, Jim jumped up with a big smile on his face and went up to him.

"Is it time for lunch, Mr. Gessner? I'm so looking forward to our meal. Mr. Bichel said the bank had it catered and I'm sure his food selections will be delicious. It will be our first opportunity to have an authentic Swiss meal." He placed his broad fingers on Gesner's arm and steered him gently around so his back was to Gavin and Sonnai as if to leave the room.

Gavin and Sonnai quickly closed down all their files with a swipe, then wiped the memory of both comms and stood to follow. Sonnai reached over to Jim's work space and quickly did the same. Gessner turned his head back at the door to see if they were following.

"I'll close your work station Jordan; wouldn't do to keep these files open while we're out of the room," Sonnai told Jim casually.

Jim, still at the door with his hand on Gesner's arm, turned his head. "Thanks Travis. That was careless of me."

"No harm done this time, Jordan," said Gavin, "just remember for next time. We have to maintain our security protocols at all time. The office is quite strict about that. I'm sure Mr. Bilcher is also very strict about bank security."

"Yes, Mr. Corrigan, he is. The bank takes its security very seriously. Please be more careful in the future, sir." Gessner frowned at Jim.

"My apologies, Mr. Gessner. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't, Jordan." Gavin spoke sternly.

Jim said nothing more, remembering just in time that he was a subordinate to "Mr. McCall" and had to do as he was told.

Gavin looked over to him, repressing a smile; he knew Jim was biting his tongue, not used to this kind of subordinate role during a mission.

Gessner led them to a room down the hall, opened the door and ushered them in. There were two round tables covered in white linen tablecloths and set with what looked like fine china, crystal and silver. Jim glanced at Gavin and raised an eyebrow. This was, to say the least, unusual treatment for bank auditors to receive. Bilcher was standing by a large rectangular table pulled against the back wall and ladened with covered serving dishes. He smiled genially at them as they came in.

"Gentlemen, please come serve yourselves. We use excellent caterers, so I hope you enjoy your meal." He uncovered the serving dishes, and ushered them to precede him.

The three men picked up plates and helped themselves to an assortment of food; veal in mushroom sauce, a potato dish called Rosi, Bilcher told them, onion and apple tarts, a variety of cheeses, and a drink called Revilla. Their plates laden, they sat down. Jim noticed that Bilcher waited until they'd selected their seats and then came to join them. Gessner and a small group of other bank officers sat at the other table. Gavin, Jim, and Sonnai praised the delicious dishes as they ate, and listened to Bilcher's conversation. The three men answered his general questions about their homes, lives and families, sticking closely to their memorized background scripts. After a few questions from Bilcher, Jim decided to also ask some questions. He was careful in his queries, trying to draw out information from Bilcher, but he had very little success in finding out anything. Bilcher remained polite, but aloof. To Gavin's practiced eye, it was obvious that Bilcher was playing things very close to his chest. The question was why? Why was he being so careful, so reticent about even unimportant topics?

Soon enough, the genial tenor of Bilcher's questioning changed; it became more pointed and slightly more aggressive. The casual façade had dropped completely and his face became hard and implacable. He put his fork down to ask Gavin point blank what they had found in the accounts. Gavin politely refused to answer, citing company protocols. Bilcher frowned and persisted in his pointed questions.

Jim gently nudged Gavin and Sonnai under the table, taking note of the change in Bilcher's demeanor. The three men became more alert, more cautious in their answers; very careful not to divulge anything compromising about their backgrounds. Bilcher, however, seemed determined and pushed hard with his questions.

Finally, Gavin put his fork down and looked sternly at Bilcher.

"Mr. Bilcher, I'm afraid you have a misapprehension about what we can tell you about the status of your accounts. Let me be clear, we can't share any of our findings with you yet," Gavin said. "The Banking Commission has a very strict policy that there is to be no verbal reporting about our findings to any bank employees. Everything must be recorded, encrypted, and then handed over to you and the bank Board of Directors at a formal meeting in a published report. I will be the one to give all of you that report. I hope you understand that and are not offended that we can't answer any of your questions. We also take our commitment to the confidentiality and security of your bank files very seriously."

Bilcher looked angry. "I don't understand why you can't just tell me if the accounts you've accessed so far are all in good order," he said. "After all, I have a vested interest in preserving the Bank's good name and also to correct any discrepancies you may find. I have a good mind to call and complain to your immediate supervisor about your unwillingness to tell me anything; about how reticent you're being with me in discussing your findings."

Gavin was unperturbed by the threat. The Banking Commission's "Accounting Department" comm number on their business cards would be immediately routed to one of the SIS agents who would then pretend to turn Bilcher over to their "supervisor." The two agents were prepared to answer all questions that Bilcher asked about their procedures.

Gavin stood, as did Jim and Sonnai. His face was stern and his voice deadly serious. "Feel free to do so, Mr. Bilcher. However, don't be disappointed if you receive the same answer from our Accounting Department Supervisor. Thank you for lunch, it was delicious. We need to get back to work now." He nodded to Bilcher, and the three men walked out of the room without another word.

Back at their comm stations, Sonnai depressed the sound dampener. "That was interesting. I didn't see that one coming."

"Is it just me," said Jim, "but does anyone else think that Bilcher was suddenly acting very strangely?"

"It was definitely a change from Bilcher's earlier interactions with us." Gavin looked thoughtful. "I think we need to finish here as quickly as possible, maybe even today if we can find everything we need about those account holders. We'll need to copy everything, Sonnai, and then get out of Dodge. I didn't get good vibes about that lunch encounter."

"Gavin…" Sonnai interrupted him. "Someone came in and tried to access our files." His fingers slid rapidly across the screen. "They weren't able to find anything," he said with relief, "but someone tried. I locked everything up tight on all three comms before we left."

"Was Gessner in the room eating lunch with us the whole time?" Jim asked, thinking back to the lunch guests at the other table.

"I'm afraid I didn't notice," said Gavin. "The man seems to melt into the background; it's a very useful ability. That was a big mistake on my part; I know to always keep an eye on our quarries, but I let my guard down and focused only on Bilcher's animosity. Stupid; I was stupid; his belligerence might have been a ploy to distract us from Gessner leaving the room."

"We were all stupid, Gavin," Jim said. "We let our guard down. Don't beat yourself up; anyway, whoever it was didn't find anything."

"Well it can't be helped now. Let's finish up this afternoon as quickly as possible so we don't have to come back tomorrow. I don't know if Bilcher is suspicious of us, or if he or Gessner have something to hide, or if it's just general paranoia, but I don't like it. We won't attempt to check the files here. Just copy everything, Sonnai, and we'll look at what you've found in the hotel room."

He nodded to Sonnai to turn off the sound dampener and then Gavin, taking the lead, talked loudly about Bilcher's hostile attitude. He commented that their supervisor would not be pleased if Bilcher called him. He said that the "Bank Commission" didn't like anyone to question their methods or put pressure on their accountants for early reports. He glanced at Sonnai and drew a finger across his throat, and Sonnai nodded.

"That should help a little," Gavin said. "I prefer that he not call our number, so maybe that will give him pause."

They worked quietly for the next few hours accessing files and meticulously extricating information for the five years the account had been with the bank. Finally, Sonnai beckoned them over to his station, and Gavin and Jim saw that he'd copied every single file associated with the account number. Sonnai had meticulously tracked the number from its inception to the present time. Jim hoped the answer to the identity of the terrorists would be embedded somewhere in those files. Satisfied, Gavin nodded, and Sonnai sent the information to their padds and then wiped the comm of all his searches and history.

"I think this is a good place for us to stop for the day. My eyes are tired, and I'm sure yours are also. We'll come back tomorrow to finish up."

The door opened almost immediately, and Gessner came in. "Gentlemen, is there anything else you might need this afternoon?"

"No thank you, Mr. Gessner. We've decided to stop for the day. It's past four o'clock and I know the bank will close soon. We're tired. This is painstaking and tedious work, as you know. We're closing down our files and we'll begin again early tomorrow. I think we can finish by tomorrow afternoon." He glanced pointedly at Gessner. "Will this room be secure overnight?"

"Yes of course, Mr. McCall. We'll place a security guard at the door, and the bank has a state of the art alarm system installed. Please be assured there is no way these accounts can be accessed after the bank is closed."

In silence, with Gessner watching, they packed up their belongings, said good evening to him and exited the bank. The walk back to the hotel was silent until they got in the lift.

"We'll eat in the room again this evening. I want us to go through the files with a fine tooth comb and Admiral Nogura is expecting a report from me this evening." He sighed. "If we don't find anything, it'll be a dead end and we'll have to think of something else."

"I want to check in with Bones and Spock as soon as we're back in the room," Jim said. "If they've advanced on the cure, it'll give us a little breathing room. Bones said they were close."

They walked into the room, and Sonnai swept it for listening devices. SIS agents always erred on the side of paranoia; it was all too easy for someone to enter a hotel room and plant something. It was a standard SIS policy to sweep a room every time it was left empty and returned to.

Jim flipped open his comm, walked into the bedroom, and put in Bones' code.

Almost immediately he heard Bones' voice. "Jim! 'Bout time you called, I was startin' to get a little concerned."

"Sorry, Bones. We had a busy day at the bank. I'll tell you about it, but first, how is Joanna, and how is the research going?"

"Baby Girl is doing well, Jim, and she's gonna' be doing better tomorrow. We have the cure! Spock and I are replicatin' it as we speak." Bones sounded jubilant.

"Bones! That's fantastic news!" Jim breathed a sigh of relief; a mountain of worry slipped from his shoulders. Joanna would recover; his favorite little girl in the whole world was going to be fine. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and he could only imagine how Bones felt. Jim couldn't even begin to imagine how Bones would cope if Joanna wouldn't recover. It would devastate him.

"Yeah, Jim. Thanks to Spock and the Vulcan research he got for us, we were able to do this pretty fast. Gotta' tell you, Jimmy, the hobgoblin seemed pretty excited; as excited as he ever gets, anyway. His eyebrows might've risen a millimeter or two higher than usual."

Jim laughed. It was good to hear Bones' dry wit again. "Bones you and Spock have pulled off a miracle. Does Nogura know?"

"We told him earlier. The infected patients will get the cure tomorrow morning. We'll monitor them closely, but Spock and I are confident they'll fully recover; it will probably take a few days, but they'll be fine. Now tell me about what you found at the bank, Jim?"

"We just got back, Bones. We had an interesting day. Gavin, Sonnai and I haven't had a chance to go through the files yet, but we found the account; I'm hopeful. I'll update you again in the morning after we see what's in those files. Bones, I want you and Spock to get some rest tonight, and no arguments. I know you're both exhausted. I don't want to have to make it an order."

"Yeah, okay, Jim and I'll make sure the green blooded computer gets some rest too." Even Bones voice sounded tired.

Jim knew that what Bones wouldn't do for himself, he'd do to make sure Spock got some rest. "Tell Spock what I said, Bones. Not even Vulcans are invincible; Spock needs to get some rest too, so see that he does. I'm counting on you."

"I will, Jim."

"I'm going to comm Ma and give her the good news. She's going to be so happy."

"Jim, let's wait until tomorrow evening to talk to Winona; I'll know better how Jo and Jocelyn reacted to the cure and we can give her a more thorough update."

There was silence at the other end of the comm. "Bones…do you have doubts that the cure is going to work?" Jim's asked anxiously.

"No, no, Jim. Spock and I are almost 100 percent sure it'll work. Stop worrying yourself, Jo's gonna' be alright. I just want to be able to tell Winona that's she's out of stasis and doing well before we comm her."

"Good; that's good. I'm very happy, Bones. Can't wait to see her up and about and running around."

"Me too," Bones' voice was quiet, but filled with emotion.

"Gotta go, Bones. We're going to get a bite to eat and go through those files with a fine tooth comb. I'll comm you or Spock in the morning with an update. Maybe we can head back tomorrow if we find what we need."

"I hope so. It's not the same here without you. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jim. McCoy out."

Jim went back to the living area and gave Gavin and Sonnai the good news about the cure. "They've done it! They've found the cure! I knew they would, those two are amazing scientists, the best in Star Fleet. Knowing the victims can be cured, and that there's help if there are new victims is going to take a lot of the pressure off Admiral Nogura when he deals with the terrorists," Jim said.

"That's fantastic news!" Gavin's gray eyes beamed. "I'm sure Dr. McCoy is ecstatic that his little girl is going to be fine. I can only imagine what he's gone through. I don't know what I've done if it had been Davy…" His voice trailed off.

"Or Peter," Jim said somberly, "or any of our loved ones." He moved towards the com and took a deep breath; his broad shoulders relaxed for the first time in days. "Let's get started on these files. We need to find these guys and bring this nightmare to an end."


	12. Chapter 12

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 12**

" **When Joanna loved me  
Every sound was music  
Music made of laughter  
Laughter that was bright and gay."**

 **Robert Wells and Jack Segal**

McCoy flipped his comm closed and turned to Spock. "Jim says they've found the account. They copied all the files the bank has and they're going to look at everything tonight. If they discover anything, they're heading back tomorrow. He'll comm us in the morning with what they find."

Spock nodded. "What did the Captain say about your good news regarding our Choriocytosis cure?"

"He was mighty happy that we're already replicating the cure and that Joanna will get her dose in the morning. He loves that child," said McCoy. "Never misses a chance of saying hello when I comm her and he always makes time to see her when we're on earth."

"I have noticed the Captain relates very well to children," Spock said thoughtfully. "It is an enviable gift."

"Yeah, he does. I think it's because he never talks down to them, and they know he respects them. You have that gift too, Spock. Children and other small things like you." He grinned when he saw the slight green flush in Spock's ears. He took pity on the Vulcan's embarrassment (although Spock would never admit to it) and said. "Let's eat some dinner and then get some sleep. We're gonna' have a very long day tomorrow."

"Shall I order some food from the same restaurant Ensign Torres used?"

"No, I'll make us something. How about a mixed grill; eggs with sautéed vegetables, some seasoned diced potatoes and some toast with butter and jam. I know it sounds like breakfast, but in the South, we sometimes cook breakfast food for supper. I'll also brew some fresh coffee for me, and some hot tea for you. How's that sound?"

"That sounds more than adequate, Leonard. I must confess that since our stay at Dr. Kirk's home, I now prefer what you term "home cooked meals." I must also confess to being somewhat fatigued. My meditation and rest schedules have been disrupted for some days."

McCoy, remembered what Jim had said, that Spock would not ordinarily admit to being tired, so he must be pretty tired if he was willing to admit it; so an early night it would be for both of them.

* * *

McCoy woke up suddenly, the barely there dawn light peeking through the bedroom window. He glanced at his chronometer; it was only 5:45 am. He looked over to the other bed and saw that Spock was still asleep. Obviously he'd been more tired than McCoy had thought. Jim was always right, damn it; about Spock, about McCoy, about most everything. The doctor got up, making as little noise as possible, and headed to the bathroom for his shower. Afterward he'd make breakfast and they'd head back to SF Medical to check how many doses the replicators had made, pick up the correct dosages for Joanna and Jocelyn, and give them their viral vector meds right away. He got out of the shower, rubbed the towel over his wet hair and body, ran the sonic razor over his overnight stubble, and pulled on his black regulation underclothes and his uniform.

He walked barefooted to the kitchen and got out cereal, milk, and orange juice for Spock. He put a bowl on the table and Spock's mug for his tea. He began brewing Spock's tea before he started on his eggs, toast and sausages. He drank his black coffee and thought about Joanna. He felt certain the cure would work, but he wouldn't be completely at ease until his baby girl was up and acting like her normal self. McCoy heard a noise behind him and saw Spock.

"Morning, Spock. Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Doctor. I slept adequately. It appears that I slept past my usual waking hour."

"Yeah, your body must have needed the rest. Have a seat, Spock. I've brewed your tea, and your cereal and stuff is on the table."

"Thank you, Leonard. Have you eaten yet?"

"Nope, I was just gonna' sit down," McCoy said. Spock pulled the bowl toward him, served himself cereal and milk, buttered his toast and spread jam on it. McCoy brought the eggs and sausage from the stove and sat down. They ate silently, both thinking of the day ahead.

"I wonder if the Captain will contact us this morning." Spock asked, as he sipped his tea.

"Probably later on," McCoy responded. "It all depends on what they found in those files." He drew back from the table. "Are you almost ready to go, Spock?" He picked up his med kit from the counter and stood waiting for the Vulcan.

"I am." Spock picked up his and McCoy's dishes and put them in the recycler, and they walked out the door. The San Francisco sun, always reticent to peek through the morning fog, was beginning to rise over the Eastern horizon. The two men made their way through the haze to the hospital. The fog made sinister shapes out of the trees, bushes, benches and well known landmarks. There were already shuttles and air cars in the parking lot; friends and family visiting patients before work, and the many SFM employees that had an early morning shift had already arrived.

Spock and McCoy went through security at the main door and straight to the replicator labs area. The sensors read their thumb prints and let them in. The night shift techs had neatly lined up the replicated ampules with the proper dosage on the labels. McCoy had left instructions with the techs about the proper dosage for both adults and children. The night supervisor, a Denubian named Porrus, greeted them cordially.

"Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock. These are ready for you. The other two labs have also reported they've finished replicating their first batch, and the next shift will start on the second batch. Since last night the three labs have replicated 1200 doses. By noon today we'll have twice that number and by this evening, we'll have 3600 doses. We will continue until we have stockpiled many thousands of doses for use on Terra and other worlds."

"Well done, Dr. Porrus, 'said Spock.

"I am going off duty now, gentle beings. Dr. Rodriguez, will be on duty for the rest of day, and in charge of replicating the other batches. Good day to both of you."

McCoy and Spock looked at each other with the same thought. "Let's get a dose for Joanna and one for Jocelyn. We'll give it to them right away. We also need to let Admiral Nogura know. Today is the second day, Spock; tomorrow is the deadline. Nogura will have the cure in his hands before the next comm call from the terrorists."

"Indeed, Leonard. The Admiral will be able to stand firm against them. Not that he would not have done so in any case, even without the cure, but it would have sorely taxed him to have to put more people in danger."

McCoy picked up the two doses, checked the vials carefully, picked up his Med Kit and they headed out the door to Joanna's hospital room. Even though he was certain of the efficacy of the viral vector, he still felt a knot in his stomach. Everything hinged on how his baby girl would react to the injection. He glanced at Spock. Only someone who knew Spock as well as McCoy did, would notice the tightness of his lips, and small wrinkle in his forehead. Spock was also nervous.

Joanna's room was dimly lit. The morning shift duty nurse smiled at them as she went about the business of checking Joanna's vital signs. The two men stood and waited until she was finished and charted the child's results. "Everything looks good, Dr. McCoy. Joanna is dong well. She's had a good night. I've weighed her and she's maintaining her weight; her color is good. Her physical therapist said her muscle mass is stable; her reflexes normal. All good news. I've transferred her morning results to your padd, as you requested, Doctor."

"Thank you, Nurse Gardetto." McCoy opened his padd and saw Joanna's chart was there already.

"I'll leave you alone for a few minutes. I'll bathe her and brush her hair when I come back." She nodded and left the room.

"Spock, will you call the Admiral? I don't know if he wants to be here or not, but we better make sure." McCoy moved closer to the bed, put on his gloves and reached in to stroke Joanna's face and arms. The nurse was right, she was doing well, her skin was soft and rosy, her expression peaceful. He sighed and whispered. "You're gonna' be all right, Sweet Pea. Daddy's gonna' make you all better."

Spock spoke softly into his comm then flipped it closed. "The Admiral will be here in a few minutes, Leonard. He does want to be here."

McCoy opened his med kit and loaded the hypo with the proper dosage for Joanna. He also prepared one for Jocelyn. "Would you brighten the lights, please Spock?"

They waited impatiently for a few minutes until the door opened and Admiral Nogura and Ensign Torres walked in. The Admiral looked worn and tired, but his expression was hopeful. "Good morning, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock. Please go ahead; I know how anxious you are to see your daughter fully recovered from this."

McCoy nodded. "We're ready. I'm gonna' lower the stasis field slowly after I inject her; we'll be able to tell pretty fast if she's responding positively. The viral vector should start to work almost immediately through the blood stream, but I don't want to bring her back to full consciousness too fast. I'm gonna' bring her out of stasis a little at a time, by increments. After we lower the stasis field completely, I'll let her sleep for a few hours, and then I'll bring her to full consciousness. Being in stasis so long makes coming out of it stressful for some patients and we don't have as much data as I'd like about the effects of children bring brought out of stasis, so I don't want to rush this."

Nogura nodded, silent.

"All right, Spock, here we go," said McCoy. He brushed Joanna's cheek once more, and injected the hypo into her carotid artery. It was the fastest way to get it into her blood stream. He stepped away from the bio bed, looked up and checked the readouts. He nodded, everything looked good.

Nurse Gardetto had come back into the room, and she stood by McCoy. "Let's begin to lower the stasis field, nurse; 15 percent." The nurse nodded and McCoy waved his tricorder over Joanna's body. "She's responding well so far," he murmured.

Spock got closer to the bio bed and stood by McCoy. "Another 15 percent, nurse. We'll keep her at 30 percent for a half hour," McCoy said.

"Yes, Sir."

"You might as well sit down, Admiral, this is gonna' take a while."

"I'm fine, Dr. McCoy." Nogura said, his eyes riveted on Joanna.

The doctor and Spock didn't budge from Joanna's side. After the half hour, McCoy nodded to the nurse. "Another 30 percent," he told her.

After a few minutes, the bio bed beeped suddenly. "She's starting to breathe on her own," McCoy said, his blue eyes shining. He checked her vitals, both with the tricorder and the bio bed readings, then smiling, pulled the blue gloves off his hands. "It's starting to work," he said. "The viral vector is repairing the gene allele on the chromosome that triggered the Choriocytosis. Look at her skin; you can see the iron based hemoglobin is now transporting oxygen to her lungs and throughout the rest of her body. The disease is being genetically altered and rendered harmless."

Beside him, he felt Spock exhale softly….a small sign of relief. McCoy felt a wave of dizziness hit him like a tidal wave. He swayed and Spock put out a steadying hand.

"Look at her, Spock! She's improving slowly and surely. You can see it." McCoy felt hot tears of thanksgiving sting his eyes. His baby girl was going to be all right.

"Indeed," Spock said softly, still clutching McCoy's arm.

The Admiral came up to them. "You're going to save many lives with this cure," he said. "Thank you, gentlemen, well done! When the terrorists contact me tomorrow evening, it won't be the disaster it could have been. We'll leave you now, Doctor, Mr. Spock. Please keep me informed, and again thank you for what you've done for the citizens of the Federation."

McCoy absently nodded his goodbye, not shifting his attention from Joanna.

"Nurse Gardetto, I'd like to remove the stasis field completely now."

"Yes Doctor."

McCoy and Spock watched Joanna carefully as the stasis field was turned off. Almost immediately, the little girl stirred and lifted her arm to tuck in under her pillow. It was something McCoy had seen her do many times in her own bed. He stroked her forehead and cheek, and she murmured softly.

"She's almost awake now, Spock. I'm gonna' give her a light sedative so she can sleep a few hours. She'll wake up naturally by noon," McCoy said checking his hypo for the correct sedative dose and injecting it in her arm. "Once she's awake, we'll elevate the bed, give her fluids by mouth, and get her talking. She's gonna' be so surprised to see me here," he added.

"Surprised and very happy, Doctor." Spock never took his eyes off of Joanna. She was relaxed, tranquil, and obviously in a deep restful sleep. "After we leave here, I will contact Dr. Sobar at the Vulcan Science Academy and share the good news. He and the Vulcan healers will be most gratified that the viral vector idea worked. I will send all our results to him and they can begin to prepare enough dosages to have on hand should any Vulcan contract Choriocytosis and require the cure."

"You know, Spock, we'll have to write all this down and publish a paper about the cure. We'll have to submit our findings to Star Fleet Medical, but I'd also like to attach Dr. Sobar's name to our research and send it to The Vulcan Science Academy for publication there too. I know Vulcans don't have egos about that sort of thing, but Dr. Sobar deserves recognition for his ground breaking research. All we did was build on what he discovered."

"I agree with you, Leonard. It is the proper thing to do, and we shall do it. Dr. Sobar deserves the recognition."

Spock's comm beeped and he glanced at the code. "It is the Captain," he said. He flipped open his communicator. "Spock here."

"Spock! How are things going? How is Joanna? And Bones?" Jim's voice was loud in the small room.

"Captain, Jim…I will let you speak with Dr. McCoy. One moment, please."

He handed Leonard the communicator. "I think you should be the one to give the Captain the good news, Leonard."

McCoy looked at him for a minute. "Are you sure, Spock? You had just as much to do with this as I did."

"I am sure, Leonard. Tell him."

McCoy took the communicator from him. He drew in a deep breath. "Jim, it's Bones." He swallowed hard. "Jim, it worked, the cure worked! Joanna is out of stasis, and she's doing fine. She's gonna' be all right, Jim. Baby Girl is gonna' be fine."


	13. Chapter 13

**The Joanna** **Protocol**

 **Chapter 13**

" _ **...for to have faith is to have wings."**_

 _ **J.M. Barrie**_

"Bones, Bones," Jim's voice was husky with feeling and he cleared this throat. "That's wonderful news! Baby Girl is going to be fine! You couldn't have given me better news. I can't wait to see her running around with her usual energy."

"I know, Jim. Me too. You should see her; she looks so good, just like her usual self. She's asleep; I've given her a mild sedative. She should be waking up around noon. She'll be so happy to see her Uncle Jim." McCoy looked at Spock. "Now tell me about what y'all found out?"

"It's been interesting, Bones. We've decided that we've got as much as we can get from the bank files. We're coming home today. It's going to take some time and a fine tooth comb to look through the terrorist accounts. They've hidden their tracks very well. Whoever is behind this is very skilled, but not as skilled as Sonnai. We're on their trail, and we'll find them"

McCoy could hear a soft laugh coming from Jim. "Sonnai found something _fascinating_ , as Spock would say, while going through the accounts. It doesn't have anything to do with the terrorists, but it does explain some behaviors we observed from Theo Bichel, the Bank Manager, and Albin Gessner, the second in command here. Apparently, there's been some embezzlement going on, very small amounts, but from many accounts, so after a while it's added up to a substantial amount. They've been in collusion, so no wonder they were nervous. The theft is very well hidden; it took someone as skilled as Sonnai to find it. Gavin is going to notify the real Bank Commission about their embezzlement and this little operation will come to a screeching halt. It could have gone on for many more years if Sonnai hadn't spotted it."

McCoy smiled. Trust Jim and his team to find something more in their investigation. "What time can we expect you, Jim? Spock and I will be here at SFM all day. I have to stay close to Joanna and I'm gonna' give Jocelyn her virus vector today. We've replicated a lot of doses and they're ready to use if we need 'em."

"Just a minute, Bones." McCoy could hear voices in the background coming through the Comm. "Gavin says we should be home right after lunch. We'll come straight to SFM; we have to meet with Admiral Nogura."

"We'll see you then," McCoy said. "Jim, we need to tell Winona about Joanna."

"Yeah, we do. She's been so worried about her. You want me to comm her, or will you do it?"

"I'll do it, don't you worry about it. Y'all have enough on your plate just getting back here. I'm glad you're heading back, Jim. One less person for me to worry about when I have you under my eyes," McCoy said grumpily.

Jim laughed. "In your next life, you're coming back as a mother hen, Bones. Kirk out."

McCoy flipped his communicator closed. He turned to the nurse who had been standing discreetly at the door during the conversation. "Nurse Gardetto, Mr. Spock and I are gonna' be next door with Joanna's mother. I want you to stay by Joanna's side and monitor her vitals every 30 minutes. Come get me if anythin' changes. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Yes, Doctor. I won't leave her side." She looked at the child. "Look at her, Doctor McCoy; she looks wonderful. You and Mr. Spock have accomplished a miracle. Both Vulcanoid and human Choriocytosis patients across the quadrant will get well now."

"Thank you, nurse." Spock spoke up. "You understand that all you have seen and heard here is classified, correct?"

"Yes, Sir. Admiral Nogura gave me those orders before I became Joanna's nurse. The same goes for Ms. McCoy's nurse and the physical therapists. You don't need to be concerned, Sir."

"I was not concerned, I have total confidence in your discretion."

"Thank you, Sir."

Spock and McCoy went next door to Jocelyn's room. Jocelyn's room, like Joanna's was dimly lit. The stasis field cast a soft glow over her face and body. The morning duty nurse looked up. "Good morning, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock. I just finished charting Ms. McCoy's vitals."

Bones nodded, and took the chart. "Thank you nurse. We're gonna' begin to take her out of stasis a little at a time." He began the same process that he'd used with Joanna of lifting the stasis field slowly, carefully monitoring Jocelyn's vital signs as the stasis field was lifted step by step. At 75 percent, the stasis field sensor light was very dimly lit, and McCoy prepared the proper adult dosage; he injected the viral vector into Jocelyn's carotid artery and watched his tricorder and the bio bed carefully.

"Monitor her closely, nurse. We'll bring her totally out of stasis in a few minutes. I'm gonna' give her a sedative so she'll sleep naturally for several hours. Adults bounce back slow from stasis. We'll have to keep a close eye on her." They waited and finally McCoy gave a nod to the nurse, and the stasis field was totally removed. Jocelyn moaned softly in discomfort as her body adjusted to being mobile again, and McCoy injected her with the sedative. He looked at the serene sleeping face, her features not marred by the usual anger, disdain and sarcasm that usually resided there when she and McCoy had any interactions. He sighed. Jim hated Jocelyn with a passion, and not from any contentious interactions that they'd ever had with each other. To McCoy's certain knowledge, they'd spoken together, face to face only a few times. No, he hated Jocelyn because she kept Joanna away from McCoy as much as she could, and Jim knew how much that hurt his friend. Well, maybe things would get better now that McCoy had saved her life.

He turned to Spock. "She'll sleep for most of the day. Her body will have time to adjust to movement again, a little at a time."

Spock cast a keen glance at the doctor. McCoy looked exhausted. The stress and worry about the viral vector working on his child and her mother, had taken its toll.

Once again mindful of Jim's injunction to him about taking care of McCoy, he said, "Leonard, we can do nothing more for a couple of hours. Let us go to the cafeteria and have some refreshment. I find myself hungry once more. I believe you could also use an additional cup of coffee, am I not correct?"

McCoy nodded. "Sure, Spock. I can always use another cup of coffee." _Hmm,_ he thought _. Spock seems to be unusually hungry these days. Despite his Vulcan stamina, his body must be under more mental stress than he'd ever admit to. Damn Vulcan,_ _gotta' keep an eye on him in spite of himself._

"Comm me, if anything changes, nurse. We'll be in the cafeteria for a little while."

They walked down the hall to the cafeteria. McCoy grabbed a mug of coffee and a piece of pie, and Spock got hot tea and, unusually for him, a piece of pie as well. "Excuse me for a minute, Spock, I'm going to let Winona know about Joanna," he said, pulling out his comm and flipping it open. He put in the Kirk code at the farm, and heard Jim's mother say, "Winona Kirk, here."

"Winona, it's Leonard," he said softly, although there was no one in the cafeteria but he and Spock.

"Leonard!" Winona's voice sounded worried. "Oh my dear, I'm so happy to hear your voice. How are you and how is Joanna?"

"We're good, Winona, very good. Joanna got her meds this morning and she's responded beautifully. She's asleep right now. I want her to sleep a couple of hours before I wake her up completely. Jocelyn also got her meds, but I'm keeping her asleep for most of the day, stasis is harder on an adult."

"Oh Leonard, that's wonderful news! I'm so happy Joanna is going to be fine! How long will she be in the hospital?"

"I'm not sure, but at least until tomorrow. Since she was in perfect health before this, I don't anticipate that she'll have to stay too long."

"Will she stay with you, Jim and Spock? Especially if Jocelyn won't be able to care for her."

McCoy didn't answer for a minute. He hadn't had a thought about who would take care of Joanna if Jocelyn stayed in the hospital for a few days. "I hadn't really thought 'bout it, Winona. I guess she'll come home with me to the SFM house," he said. "I'll take care of her."

"Leonard, you, Spock and Jim will have a lot on your plate during the next few days. I don't want you to be worring about Joanna too. I'm going to come to San Francisco to take care of her for the next few days. I'll talk to Jim, and have Star Fleet transport me to San Francisco."

"Winona!" McCoy protested. "I couldn't impose on you like that, that's too much to ask of you, and what about the farm and Peter?"

"Leonard, you didn't ask, I offered, and after all you've done for Jim, this is not an imposition. I'll have my neighbor come to feed the chickens, Dapple and Ginger, and Peter can stay with Marie or Mama Salvatore for a few days, they'd love to have him, or he can stay with Father Joe for that matter. Don't you worry about that. Is Jim there? I'd like to make the arrangements with him."

"He's not here, but he and Gavin plan on gettin' back later this afternoon. You can talk to him on his comm, though. Winona, are you sure 'bout this?

"Yes I'm very sure Leonard; I want to help. I won't bother Jim until he gets back. I'm sure he and Gavin have a lot going on; I'll talk to him later today. I'll plan to get there tomorrow afternoon. I'll get a bed room ready at the house for Joanna and i and I'll cook good nourishing meals for her and for all of you too. You know," she added thoughtfully, "on second thought, I don't think I'll bother Jim about transport. I'll just speak with Admiral Nogura. He can take care of all the arrangements for me. He has all of SF resources to hand, and I am Star Fleet after all. It will be easy for him to arrange things. Yes," she said definitely, "that's exactly what I'll do."

"Winona!" Leonard was aghast. "You cain't do that? What is the Admiral gonna' think?"

"He's going to think that the child needs someone to look after her, and that you have good friends who are willing to help out when necessary. Let me comm him, Leonard, and I'll call you right back. Bye."

Leonard stood there looking dumbly at his comm, then shook his head disbelievingly as he looked at Spock.

"Is something wrong with Dr. Kirk, Leonard?"

Leonard laughed a little helplessly. "I certainly hope not, Spock. Jim's gonna' have a hissy fit!" He shook his head again and told Spock what Winona was doing.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I doubt if the Captain will have 'a hissy fit,'" he said. "He is well aware of how his mother wholeheartedly embraces any task that needs doing and, as you well know, he is always in accord with her wishes. On the contrary, I believe he will be pleased that she is able to come to help you and Joanna. I, however, do not know how Admiral Nogura is going to react," he added, eyebrow raised thoughtfully.

They waited in silence until Leonard's comm beeped again. "McCoy here."

"Leonard," said Winona's blithe voice, "it's all set. I'll be transporting to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon. Admiral Nogura said it would be best if I meet you at Star Fleet Medical. He's going to have an Ensign meet me at the transporter station. Her name is Ensign Root and she will be assigned to help with any of Joanna's needs."

Leonard closed his eyes. "What did the Admiral have to say when you asked him about comin', Winona?"

"He was very nice, Leonard. He said I had done the right thing to comm him and not Jim, since Jim and Gavin are still in Switzerland, and they're in the middle of the investigation. He also said that he hoped I would invite him to the house for a home cooked meal while I'm there." Leonard could hear the smile in her voice. "And of course, I will," she said. "I'll have to find out what his favorite foods are," she added thoughtfully. "I'm sure I can cook something he'll enjoy."

"I'm sure of it too, Winona." Leonard's voice trailed off helplessly.

"So I'll see all of you tomorrow, Leonard. Would you please tell Jim, or do you want me to comm him later and let him know?"

"No, no, I'll do it, don't you worry about it; you have enough to do packing and making arrangements for Peter. I'll take care of it, and we'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Bye Winona."

"Goodbye, Leonard. Please give my regards to Mr. Spock."

Leonard flipped his communicator closed and looked at Spock. "I didn't want to deny myself the sight of Jim's face when I tell him what his mama did," Leonard said grinning.

"Indeed," said Spock. "It should be a fascinating interaction."

Leonard snickered. He couldn't wait to see Jim's face when he told him Winona had commed Admiral Nogura, the Commander in Chief of all of Star Fleet, to arrange for a 'ride" to San Francisco.

Leonard looked at his chronometer. "It's almost noon, Spock, time to wake up Joanna. I cain't wait to see her face when she sees me. It's gonna' be a big surprise."

They walked back to Joanna's room. Nurse Gardetto greeted them with a smile. "She's sleeping like a baby,' she said, "but she's also showing signs of waking up."

"Yeah, the sedative is wearing off by now," Leonard said. He took her small arm in his and felt her pulse…strong and steady. He ran the tricorder over her body and compared the results with the bio bed readings. He nodded at Spock. "She's doing great, Spock. All her vitals are good, and there's no trace of the Choriocytosis virus in her system. "We'll do a final blood test when she wakes up, but I'm sure it'll be perfectly normal."

McCoy took out his hypo and filled it with a very mild stimulant and vitamin supplement fabricated especially for children. He injected it gently into Joanna's neck, again in the carotid artery. He watched her vital signs carefully and noted when her eyes begin to blink rapidly. "She's waking up, now," he said softly to the nurse and Spock. He caressed her soft cheek. "Come on, Jo Bear. It's time to wake up, darlin'. Daddy's here to see you."

Joanna shifted in the bed and opened her eyes. She blinked sleepily up at the ceiling and yawned. Her eyes closed briefly again.

McCoy murmured softly. "Wake up, Baby Girl. Daddy's here."

Joanna, at hearing Leonard's voice, turned her head in his direction. Her eyes opened wide in surprise. "Daddy!" she shrieked joyfully! "Oh Daddy, you're here!" She sat up and threw herself at McCoy's neck. His arms wound around her and held her tight. Hot tears of relief came to his eyes and trailed down his face.

"Yeah, Sweet Pea, I'm here; and I'm so happy to see you, darlin'," McCoy said, his voice shaking with emotion as he kissed the soft brown hair. "Daddy's gonna' be here for a while, Joanna. We're gonna' have a good long visit."


	14. Chapter 14

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 14**

 **"Hope is the closest thing to magic one can ever witness.**

 **With its power and strength, miracles will happen."**

 **Hillary Kellam**

Jim, Gavin and Sonnai packed their duffels, checked out of the hotel and walked to the public transporter station. Gavin had commed Theo Bichel, the Bank Manager, to tell him they had all they needed from the forensic audit. They agreed that in order not to spook Bichel and Gessner, Gavin, as Ryan McCall, would tell them that everything looked to be in order, and that the formal audit was finished and the Forensic audit report to the Bank Board and to Mr. Bichel would be forthcoming. The real auditors from the Federation Banking Commission would soon descend on the bank to conduct the real audit, and Gavin was sure that Bichel and Gessner would be arrested.

Last night, Sonnai had begun work on back tracking the terrorists account number and, despite their many attempts to hide the actual beginning of the fake account, he was getting somewhere. He would finish back in San Francisco, where additional SIS encryption specialists would help him. Sonnai felt sure they would get to the original name, alias or real, of the account holder and from there they would track him or them down. These days, Sonnai assured Jim, there was really no place to hide yourself within the Federation. Eventually you could find anyone, anywhere, who wanted to hide.

Jim was anxious to get back to San Francisco. He wanted to see for himself that Joanna was getting well and he also wanted to check on Bones and Spock and reassure himself that the Choriocytosis viral vector replication was proceeding as fast as possible. Tomorrow evening was the deadline given by the terrorist and they had to be ready with as many doses of the viral vector as possible. Jim fidgeted anxiously as they waited at the transporter station. The queue was long and they had to wait their turn in order to get on the transporter padd. Jim sighed impatiently. He was spoiled, he knew. As a Star Fleet Captain, it had been a long time since he'd had to wait to be transported.

Gavin gave him a knowing look. "It's our turn next, Jim," he said softly, mindful of the line behind them."

Jim smiled ruefully. "Sorry, am I that obvious?" he asked.

"A little," Gavin said sympathetically. He too was anxious to get back and give his report to Admiral Nogura and start the real work of apprehending the terrorists. Sometimes Starfleet Intelligence agents never saw the conclusion of a mission, but Gavin hoped this time it would be different, that the Admiral would assign him and his team the task of finding and apprehending the terrorists.

They stepped up to the padd, gave the attendant their credit chips, and waited for transport. Their trip back to San Francisco would be the reverse of the one they had taken to Bern. They would transport to New York, then to Atlanta, and finally to San Francisco. Gavin was taking no chances on being followed or spotted on their way back.

They materialized back at the main transporter station at SFM. They walked rapidly to Gavin's shuttle and dumped their duffels in there. Gavin commed Admiral Nogura's office and Ensign Torres reported he was in an important meeting and couldn't be disturbed, but he'd contact them as soon as he finished.

"Let's go find Bones and Spock," Jim said impatiently.

Gavin nodded, knowing Jim would not settle or rest until he'd checked in with them. Sonnai followed them patiently as they walked through the main doors of SFM. Jim pulled out his comm and put in Bones' code. He heard the welcomed voice "McCoy here."

"Bones, we're back. We just got in. Where are you?"

"Jim! It's great to hear your voice. We're in Joanna's room; she's awake, and she'd love to see her Uncle Jim."

Jim grinned in delight. "We'll be right there, Bones. Tell her I'm coming."

The scanner read their thumb prints and let them in to the main hallway. Jim walked quickly to Joanna's room; Gavin and Sonnai following at a more leisurely pace. Jim paused at the door of Joanna's room; Gavin came up behind him. "Go on in, Jim. Sonnai and I will wait here for a few minutes and let you have some privacy."

Jim took a deep breath, suddenly overwhelmed by emotion. Joanna was fine; Bones had assured him she was fine. He thought of Peter and how he would have felt if it had been Peter in this hospital. He couldn't even imagine how Bones was feeling at seeing his child recovered from a near fatal disease. He opened the door and the first thing he saw was Joanna's blue eyes so like her father's turn to meet his. Her eyes widened and her little face broke into a huge grin and she lifted her small arms to him. "Uncle Jim!" She squealed in delight.

Bones moved out of the way, but Jim had eyes for no one but the precious child on the bed. "Jo Bear!" He leaned in and hugged the small body, ran his hand over the soft hair, and pressed a thankful kiss on her forehead. "I'm so happy to see you, sweetheart." His eyes met Bones' and they smiled at each other.

"Uncle Jim! I had two surprises when I woke up, Daddy's here and you're here too." She grinned her gapped tooth grin at him.

"That _was_ a big surprise, Jo Jo, and your daddy and I know how much you like surprises. How are you feeling?" Jim looked down at the child and saw her pink lips and rosy cheeks. She looked good; healthy and alert. He glanced up at Bones and the doctor nodded his head. Joanna was fine! Something tight in Jim's chest finally eased, as he smiled his sweetest smile at the little girl. Her small hand still clutched his and her fingers were tight around his.

Joanna turned her head to her father. "I'm hungry, daddy. My tummy feels like it's empty," she told him.

Nurse Gardetto stepped close to Joanna. "I can fix that, Miss Jo. Why don't I order something good for you to eat? What would you like?" She glanced at McCoy.

"You can eat whatever you want, Baby Girl. What sounds good to you?"

"I'd like a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, daddy, and some for you and Uncle Jim too. We all like grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, right, Uncle Jim? We always eat them when you come visit in Georgia," she said with satisfaction.

"I'd love to, Jo Bear, but I can't stay, baby. I have a meeting to go to in a few minutes, but I'll be back later on, okay?"

Joanna nodded, finally letting go of his hand. "Okay, I'll see you after a while, Uncle Jim, but don't stay away all today, okay?"

Jim winked at her. "I'm going to come back as quick as I can," he reassured her, dropping another soft kiss on her forehead.

"Jo, I'm gonna' step outside the room with Mr. Spock so we can both talk to Uncle Jim, honey. I'll be back real soon. Nurse Gardetto will get you ready for lunch. You can sit up and eat from the tray table if you want to."

McCoy led Jim and Spock out the door to find Gavin and Sonnai waiting patiently for Jim. He shook hands with the two men. "Welcome home. It's good to see you," he told them.

Jim reached over and grabbed Bones by the shoulders. "Bones," he said, his hazel eyes filled with emotion. "She looks great, she's grown a lot since Christmas. You and Spock are miracle workers," he drew Bones in for a quick hug.

Bones returned the hug, and smiled at his friend. "Couldn't have done it without the hobgoblin here," he said. "As much as it pains me to admit it, we were an amazin' team."

Spock raised one eyebrow. "I do not understand why an admission of truth would cause you physical pain, Leonard. It seems to me that telling the truth about our most productive partnership in finding the cure would alleviate all your physical distress." He glanced at Jim, his dark eyes twinkling. Jim drew his head back and laughed in delight. He was happy to be back with his two best friends, hearing their usual grousing.

Bones grinned in response. "Jim boy," he said, looking seriously at him. "There's a surprise for you coming in less than 24 hours." Spock stood impassively by McCoy's side and nodded solemnly at Jim.

"Really, a surprise for me? What are you talking about, Bones? What kind of surprise?"

"Well, Jimmy, it's like this," McCoy's face was alight with delight. "I called your Ma like I said I would, to tell her the good news about Joanna. Of course she was very happy to hear she's doing fine, but then she asked me who was gonna' take care of Joanna when she came out of the hospital. I told her I was going to have to bring her back to the house 'cause Jocelyn ain't getting out of the hospital any time soon and your Ma," he paused dramatically, 'your Ma announced that she's gonna' come take care of Joanna. She'll be here tomorrow afternoon."

Jim looked astonished. "Ma? Ma is coming here to San Francisco? What the hell, Bones? What about Peter? Are you sure she said she's coming?"

McCoy smiled. 'Yep, I'm sure. I tried to talk her out of it, but that didn't work out so well. I guess Peter is staying with Marie Salvatore and her family. You know your Ma once her mind is made up." He looked at Jim's befuddled face. "I'm saving the best for last. She commed Admiral Nogura so he could make all the travel arrangements to get her here. Apparently, he gave her his personal comm during our mission in New York, imagine that. She said she didn't want to bother you, since you were on assignment."

Jim opened and closed his mouth before he could get words out. "Did you say that she…she… commed the C in C himself to arrange transport here to San Francisco?"

McCoy looked gleeful. "She sure did, and the Admiral did it, not only that, but he invited himself for a home cooked dinner while she's here, what do you think of that?"

Jim looked a little stunned and he shook his head. "Uh, was the Admiral upset that Ma commed him?" He winced at the thought; an angry Nogura, was not a pleasant thing to endure as Jim well knew. He certainly wouldn't want his mother subjected to the wrath of Nogura.

"Nope, Winona said he was nice as could be. Not only that, but he's assigned a Yeoman to meet your Ma and to be at her disposal for whatever she needs." McCoy shook his head and grinned. "Your Ma is something else, Jim."

Jim looked at the four men at his side. Gavin looked unsurprised, Spock looked bemused, Sonnai looked puzzled and Bones looked gleeful. Jim sighed. "Yeah, she's something else, that's for sure. How do you feel about this, Bones?"

"I'm happy she's coming, Jim. We're all gonna' have our hands full with this terrorist and Choriocytosis crisis and Joanna will need someone to watch her full time and she likes your mother a lot."

Gavin's comm beeped and he flipped it open. "Bradford here. Yes, we'll be right there," he said. "The Admiral is ready for us," he told them. "He wants our report."

"Let me just tell the nurse and Joanna that I'll be in a meeting,' McCoy said, opening Joanna's door. "I'll be right with you."

The five men walked directly to the Admiral's office and were admitted immediately by Ensign Torres. "Welcome back, gentlemen," Nogura said. "Have a seat," he said, pointing to the round table. Torres wheeled in a trolley with coffee and cups, and passed them around. Jim sipped his gratefully; it had already been a long day. Torres nodded to them and left the room as quietly as he had come in.

The Admiral sat back in his chair and turned to McCoy. "I understand your daughter is doing very well, Doctor. I'm very pleased to hear it. You and Mr. Spock should be very proud of yourselves. If the terrorists attack again, we're well prepared."

"Thank you, Sir." McCoy said.

"Now, gentlemen, what do you have for me? Commander Bradford, I received your preliminary report earlier. Interesting that you found the embezzlement," he said, running a hand over his face wearily. The Admiral looked worn out, but he still sat ramrod straight and his eyes were piercing as he looked questionably at Gavin.

"We've accessed all the information on the account, Sir. Lt. Connolly has begun taking the encryptions apart; he worked most of last night, but we still have a ways to go."

Nogura nodded.

"Sir," Connolly said, "I plan to take everything back to SIS so my team can work on the encryptions. They're the best there is and the work will go much faster. I know we're pressed for time."

"Yes, Lieutenant. Our deadline is tomorrow evening. That's when I expect to hear from the terrorists about the credit transfer."

"Admiral," Jim said. "The embezzlement may help us. I think I've come up with a plan to take these men down. I want to run it by you."

"Oh God," muttered McCoy softly. Jim's plans always meant danger, risk, and general mayhem.

"Go ahead, Captain, you're the tactical genius here," the Admiral said.

Jim cast a glowering glance at his CMO; McCoy studiously ignored it. Jim looked at Sonnai. "Is there a way to deposit the 50 million credits and then disable the account remotely so it can't be accessed?"

Sonnai nodded. "Since I have the account number, I can do that easily. I can lock it and encrypt the lock code so that no one can access the credits."

"Good; that's good, Sonnai." Jim looked at the Admiral. "This is what I've come up with that I think will work, Sir. Tomorrow night you'll tell the terrorist that he can have his 50 million, but that it'll take a day or so to come up with that many credits. If the terrorist argues, you can say they are Federation credits and that you need a little time to get that big an amount together. That will give us a day or so to implement the rest of the plan."

Admiral Nogura looked skeptical. "What is the rest of the plan, Captain?"

"If the Banking Commission Authorities could have Bichel and Gessner arrested for embezzlement right away, that would get them out of the way, and we could put two of our men in their place; two SIS agents from Gavin's team," he said throwing a side glance at Gavin. "When the terrorist tries to access the 50 million, he would encounter the locked account. The 50 million credits will show up as a deposit in his account, but it would be impossible for him to get any of it. Of course he'd contact the bank immediately, and he'll be told that it's an automatic lock out."

Jim's hazel eyes looked at the enthralled faces around him. "The call to the bank from the terrorist will be routed and intercepted by SIS. The SIS operative will then 'transfer' the call to our SIS man who's taken Bilcher's place as bank manager. Our agent will tell the terrorist that for a 50 million credit deposit, for an amount that large, identification and proof of ownership of the account must be presented to the bank manager in person. Swiss banking laws are extremely strict when it comes to that large a deposit, etc., etc.; they're in place as a protection for both the bank and the account holder. He will have to come to the bank to present his identity credentials and account information to the bank manager in person."

Jim stopped to draw a breath, excitement shining in his hazel eyes, his words coming clipped and fast. "Our two SIS agents, posing as the bank manager and his assistant, will meet the terrorist face to face when he comes in to present his IDs. Gavin and I will be there too, as the Forensic Auditors, ostensibly we're delivering our report to Mr. Bichel. We can play dumb about Bichel and Gessner being arrested, but we'll be there as backup. We're working on two fronts here, one at the bank, apprehending the terrorist who shows up, and here, with Sonnai and his team tracking the account holder and discovering the identities of all of them. I'm sure we're dealing with a group, not just one person. The front man will be the one to go to the bank, but we need to apprehend all of them.

Nogura nodded thoughtfully, thinking the plan through; he turned to Sonnai. "Are you sure it will be impossible to break into the account, Lieutenant? Fifty million credits is nothing to play fast and loose with."

"Absolutely, Admiral, no one will be able to touch those credits."

"I like the plan, Captain," Nogura said cautiously. "As I see it, the whole plan hinges on getting Bilcher and Gessner out of the way."

Jim nodded. "Yes, Sir. We have to have our two SIS agents in their place for the plan to work."

Nogura nodded and reached for his desk button. Ensign Torres came in immediately. "Ensign, get me the Chairman of The United Federation Terran Bank, and Torres, make sure the call is level 3 encrypted."

"Aye, Sir."

They waited in silence until his comm beeped. "Excuse me, gentlemen," he said, moving to the corner of the room. The men could hear the low voiced discussion. They saw the Admiral nod his head and close his communicator as he came back to the table.

"It's all set, Captain. The Chairman will have Bichel and Gessner arrested this evening at home, discreetly and quietly. What that means, Commander, is that your team will have to be in Bern first thing in the morning to take their places. They'll need at least a day, to familiarize themselves with the bank."

"Yes Sir. They'll be there, prepared and ready for action. I'll see to it."

"The terrorists will contact me tomorrow evening and I'm sure they'll want the money deposited the following morning; I'll stall them as much as I can."

"Jim and I won't arrive until after we're sure when the terrorist will go to the bank. I don't want to call attention to our being there too early; we'll travel by SF transporters this time, so it will be much faster," Gavin told him.

Nogura nodded and stood. "Thank you, gentlemen, we'll all touch base again tomorrow morning. Captain," he motioned to Jim, "a moment of your time?"

Jim stayed behind while the others filed out. He had a good idea what Nogura wanted to talk to him about.

"Captain….Jim," Nogura's eyes twinkled. "Your mother contacted me earlier."

"Yes, Sir. I'm terribly sorry she bothered you, Admiral. She thought it would be best not to comm me while I was on assignment."

"She thought rightly." Nogura smiled. "I was very happy to help her. You're very fortunate, Jim. Would that all mothers were like yours. She sees a need, a task, a duty, and she moves heaven and earth to complete it successfully. I hope to see your mother one evening for dinner. I've been invited," he added.

"Of course, Sir. We'd be honored. Ma is a great cook."

"So I've heard," the Admiral said. "I'm looking forward to it. Mrs. Nogura is many things," he said, "but a proficient cook is not one of them: nor am I, for that matter," he added thoughtfully. "I'll see you tomorrow, Captain."

Jim stood. "Thank you, Admiral." He left the Admiral's office to find everyone waiting for him.

Bones looked at him anxiously. "Was it about Winona, Jim? Was he mad?"

Jim grinned. "It was about Ma. He just wanted to tell me she did the right thing calling on him and that he's looking forward to dinner with us."

McCoy snorted, and Gavin laughed. Jim shook his head. He was going to have a talk with his mother. He hoped he was up to it.


	15. Chapter 15

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 15**

 **"Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly."**

 **Mary Howitt (1799-1888), published in 1829.**

Jim, Spock, Leonard, Gavin and Sonnai left the Admiral's office. Gavin and Sonnai parted ways with the other three; they would go to the SIS office and Gavin would brief the two agents slated to go to Bern and get them ready for their mission at the bank. The agents would have to leave later this evening, but at least this time it would be by SF transporters; no one would recognize them.

"I'll see you at the house later," Gavin said. "Sonnai and I have a lot of work to do, so it may be very late, don't wait up for me."

"Do you want me to go with you and Sonnai, Gavin?" Jim asked, as always, more than willing to help if he was needed.

"No, thanks, Jim. Sonnai is going to work with the encryption team, and I'm going to brief our two operatives. You go on with the Doctor and Mr. Spock and enjoy your time with Joanna."

Jim nodded and the two left. McCoy led them to Joanna's room. "I'll need to check on Jocelyn, Jim. Will you keep Joanna company for a few minutes when I go do that?"

"Absolutely," he said. "Just a minute, Bones. I'm going to stop at the gift shop and get her a stuffed toy to cuddle with. I'll be right back." He strode quickly back to the front of the hospital where the gift shop was located.

Spock looked after him. "He seems very fond of your daughter, Dr. McCoy, and she of him."

"Yeah, Jim loves her. He met her when she was just a baby; she grabbed hold of his finger and wouldn't let go; he was a goner. It's been that way ever since. Jim adores Peter, but he's also got a special place in his heart for my Joanna," McCoy said.

Jim came bounding back, holding a huge stuffed panda in his hands. "You think she'll like it, Bones?"

McCoy gently ran a finger down the soft plush. "She'll love it, Jim, even if it's almost as big as she is," he grinned. "She'll want to sleep with it.

Soft blue eyes looked into happy, hazel ones. "Thanks, Jim."

Jim nodded, a small smile on his face, as he thought of Joanna's reaction to the panda.

As expected Joanna was delighted with the plush panda. She reached out for it eagerly, and clutched it and Jim in a tight hug.

"Oh! It's so soft! Thank you, Uncle Jim!" She snuggled it close to her and sighed in happiness.

They spent a good hour with the little girl, entertaining her, chatting with her as McCoy checked her over one more time. He nodded to Spock. She was doing fine; the virus was totally gone from her body. Now she just needed rest, care, and good nutrition. Joanna could leave the hospital tomorrow.

McCoy pulled Jim to the side. "I'm gonna' go check on Jocelyn and then we'll leave. Joanna needs to rest. I'll give her another mild sedative. Her body needs as much rest as possible and she's a little too excited to fall asleep easily. I'm gonna' dismiss her tomorrow. We'll take her back to the house after breakfast. Good thing your Ma is coming, Jim. It's gonna' help a lot."

McCoy went into Jocelyn's room. She was still deeply asleep; she hadn't stirred, the nurse reported. McCoy scanned her still form. The virus vector was working, but at a much slower pace than it had in Joanna. He'd have to report that to Spock, to the Vulcan Science Academy, and to those who were going to be using the viral vector for the already infected patients. It was need to know in case of another terrorist attack. From Jocelyn's results, the viral vector worked much more slowly in adults than in children, and patient care would have to be modified accordingly. McCoy sighed. He wished there had been time for patient trials, but it wasn't possible with another possible attack hanging over them.

He left new instructions for the nurse and gave Jocelyn another dose of sedative, making sure the dose was sufficient that she would sleep until tomorrow morning at least. Her body needed to be at rest for the viral vector to do its job.

* * *

Commander Bradford and Lt. Connolly walked into the SIS main foyer to his office. Gavin absently returned the salutes directed at him as they hurried to his office. They were very pressed for time. "Call my team together, Ensign," he directed his assistant. "We'll meet in the main conference room in ten minutes. Please bring us coffee and snacks; we're going to work late into the night. Also, Lt. Connolly needs the entire encryption team to assemble in the tech support room. Call them together, please."

"Aye, Sir." The Ensign opened his desk comm.

"You go on, Sonnai. The Encryption team will meet with you in a few minutes. Keep me posted on your progress. Admiral Nogura will want an update tonight."

"Yes, Sir. I don't think it'll take long with the whole team working together. I'll let you know as soon as we crack the identity encryption."

"Thanks, Sonnai. I'll be with my team in the main conference room until I tell you otherwise."

Gavin's team assembled quickly and efficiently, mugs of coffee in hand, prepared as always for a long briefing. SIS officers, like Star Fleet officers, knew that some missions required them to be on duty well past their usual 8 hour day. Gavin brought them up to speed on the mission in Bern, and explained Jim's plan to them.

"I've decided to send Audrey Strong and Byron Chapman as the new bank manager and her assistant. They have the most experience with undercover work, and they've played these kinds of roles before." The two operatives nodded. Audrey was a tall, slim, no nonsense looking woman with salt and pepper hair and many years of SIS undercover missions under her belt. Byron was young, but had proven himself on two previous missions with Gavin.

He pulled out his padd and tapped it. "Audrey, you'll get the duplicate electronic bank keys, your identifications, previous employment history, and encryptions for the bank accounts in a few minutes from Sonnai Connolly. Byron, you'll have a copy also, just follow Audrey's lead. I've sent you a copy of the roles and responsibilities of the bank manager and of the assistant manager. Memorize them well and fast. I'm sending you to Bern late tonight, so you can be there at the bank first thing in the morning. The Admiral wants you to have at least one day lead time to familiarize yourselves with the bank procedures before the terrorists show up." He looked at them somberly. "These people are very dangerous. They've proven themselves to be ruthless. Do not engage until Jim Kirk and I are there for backup."

Gavin went over a few more particulars about Jim's plans. He told his team that Admiral Nogura was almost positive that the man who contacted him was one of a large group; that he felt there was a cell of terrorists, and that the SIS team assigned to this mission should be at the very highest level of readiness in order to apprehend the rest of the cell members. "I want us to use the new paralytic phasers that we're trying out. So far they've worked very well. I want the terrorists to be conscious so we can question them about other possible targets. These groups are like hydras, they have many heads, and we have to chop them all off when we get the opportunity."

Gavin kept the team on task, going over and over the plan and rehearsing the roles that Byron Chapman and Audrey Strong were going to play. Sonnai sent their credentials and keys. They rehearsed question and answer protocols and bank procedures until Gavin called for a break. He had snacks brought in and they ate and drank more coffee, relaxing from the intense briefing for a few minutes.

Gavin also checked in on Sonnai and his team. Sonnai had split the encryption team into threes, all of them working simultaneously on the account encryption code. The encryption team was impressed with the high level of skill it had taken to bury the terrorist's identity, but the semi competition among them was working well, Sonnai reported. They were getting close to cracking the identity code. "Comm me the minute you have something," Gavin told him. "We'll be here a while longer, and after Chapman and Strong leave, I'll go back to the house."

"Will do, Commander."

Gavin closed his comm and called everyone back to the conference table when his comm beeped. It was Ensign Torres.

"Commander. We've gotten word from our department in Bern. Bichel and Gessner have been arrested. They're in custody and incommunicado for the next 48 hours. Your team is good to go," Torres told Gavin.

"Excellent, Ensign. Please tell the Admiral our operatives will depart for Bern in an hour. They'll be there when the bank opens in the morning. We'll be using the SIS transporters this time."

"Aye, Sir."

He closed his comm and addressed the team. "Lt. Commanders," he told Chapman and Strong. Report to Costumes and have them outfit you for Bern. You'll need formal business attire, suits, conservative shirts, nice briefcases, etc. Audrey, be sure you get a good designer suit, also some good jewelry," he told her. "It should look expensive, but not ostentatious."

The two officers left the room to get ready. "The rest of you will report to Bern tomorrow evening," he told them. "Captain Kirk and I will be at the bank the following morning as backup for Commanders Chapman and Strong, and the rest of you will be undercover as bank customers. I want you to rotate going in and out of bank without arousing suspicion. Use different entrances, different clothing, and mingle unobtrusively as much as you can; you know the drill." He looked at his chronometer. "You're all dismissed until tomorrow morning. I'll stay to see Chapman and Strong off. Good night, everyone; we did good work this evening."

Chapman and Strong returned to the conference room, luggage in hand, dressed and ready for beaming out. Gavin inspected them carefully, and nodded in satisfaction. "You're hotel rooms are waiting for you. They're adjoining rooms in case you want to review anything before tomorrow. Remember the time change, so make it a point to get some sleep. You're to report to the bank when it opens at 9:00 am Bern time."

They all walked together to the transporter room and Gavin watched them get on the pad. "Good luck. Captain Kirk and I will see you late tomorrow evening." He stood and watched them dematerialize, nodded at the transporter technician, and left the room. He was tired. It would be good to get back to the house and get some rest. Jim would be waiting for an update, and he also wanted to comm Violet. She would be waiting for word from him.

Gavin went back to the conference room, picked up his briefing padd, checked in with Sonnai one more time, bid the evening shift yeoman good night, and headed out of the building. Sonnai would comm him as soon as the encryption was broken. There was no need for Gavin to stay in his office waiting for word. Gavin got into his shuttle and headed back toward SFM and the house.

Back at the house, Jim, Spock and McCoy were just sitting down to dinner. They had left Joanna asleep and McCoy had checked her over one last time before leaving. He'd checked on Jocelyn again too; the viral vector still working much more slowly than the doctor had anticipated. She was on the road to recovery, but it would take a lot longer than it had for Joanna. Jocelyn's charts indicated she had been hit much harder with the Choriocytosis mutated virus than Joanna had been. At this point in time, Spock and McCoy didn't know if it was because she was an adult, or because her immune system had already been compromised in some way prior to the Choriocytosis infection. McCoy would have to ask Joanna if mama had been sick before their shuttle trip. It was something they needed to find out and take into consideration with the other patients who were going to receive the viral vector.

Admiral Nogura had spoken with Spock before leaving SFM. The replicated doses of the viral vector cure would be administered this evening to all the sick patients. They were being sent through SFM transporters and accompanied by SFM lab officers to the different SFM hospitals. It was being done in secret in order to avoid any problems en route. SFM doctors at the different hospital facilities were on alert and on duty, ready and waiting for the doses. The viral vector would be administered in secret to the patients by the SFM doctors. It was still a highly classified mission, and it would not do for any of the public to become aware of the mutated Choriocytosis infection or of the cure. The Admiral was also concerned that somehow the knowledge of the cure would get back to the terrorists, and that had to be avoided at all costs. Everyone would breathe a sigh of relief when the infected patients received their dosages.

The three men looked up as Gavin came into the kitchen. "Gavin!" Jim got up. "Glad you're back. Sit down, you look beat. Let me get you something to eat and some hot tea."

Gavin sighed and stretched, then collapsed in the chair. "God, what an evening! I've sent our two agents to Bern. Sonnai and his team are close to a breakthrough. I expect to hear something from them soon." He filled them in on his evening with his team and what Sonnai had accomplished so far on the encryption codes.

Jim placed a full plate of spaghetti with meatballs, some salad, garlic bread and a mug of hot tea in front of him.

Gavin leaned in and sniffed. "Thanks, Jim. Man, that smells amazing," he said picking up his fork.

"Spock made it, Gavin." Jim said smiling.

"Really, Mr. Spock? I didn't know Vulcans could cook Italian," Gavin said, shoveling the delicious food into his mouth as fast as he could.

"It is Dr. Kirk's recipe," Spock said. "The meatballs are soy based. She developed it just for me," he said, a touch of smugness in his voice. McCoy glanced at Jim and rolled his eyes. Sometimes Spock was insufferable. Winona would've developed a recipe for him too, if he'd asked her for one, he thought, irritably. And anyway, Winona was coming all the way from San Francisco just to help _him_ out; _in your face, you green blooded elf,_ McCoy thought, vindictively.

Jim looked down at his plate hiding his grin. He was well aware of McCoy's jealousy; Bones adored his mother. His mother's warmth,sweetness, sincerity, and prodigious intelligence charmed everyone she met, including Vulcans, who were supposedly immune to human charm. Even Sarek and Nogura had sucomed. It never ceased to amaze him that she was totally oblivious to her own appeal.

"You want some more, Gavin?" Jim asked him.

"Yes, please. Didn't realize I was so hungry." He handed Jim his plate. "I'm exhausted, but this will perk me right up," he told Jim. "After I eat, I'm going to comm Violet. You want to say hello, Jim?"

Jim's hazel eyes lit up as he handed Gavin his filled plate. "Of course I would. It's been a while since we spoke. I'd love to see Davy too," he added. **1** "I bet he's asleep, though," he added a little sadly.

"Maybe not, he's getting his back molars, and his sleeping pattern is way off, so we'll see," Gavin said, blissfully savoring his second helping.

They finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. Gavin went to their bedroom to comm Violet and a few minutes later he opened the door and beckoned Jim to come in. Jim sat on the bed, and there was Violet, a huge smile on her lovely face with Davy sitting on her lap.

"Violet! It's great to see you."

The baby took one look at Jim's face on Violet's comm, and reached for it. "Ji, Ji" he crowed.

Jim chuckled with delight. "How's my little buddy?" Jim waved at the baby and he grinned back at Jim, his sweet baby grin showing all his new teeth.

Violet laughed. "He always loves to see you and hear your voice," she told him.

"I love to see him too. Ma's coming here tomorrow, Violet," he told her, wishing with all his heart that he could hold Davy. "She's coming to help Bones with Joanna."

"I know, Gavin told me. She'll be a great help." They smiled at each other in complete understanding. "So," Violet said, "what's been going on with you besides this mission?"

Jim made himself comfortable on the bed in order to have a good chat with Violet and Davy.

* * *

 **1** **See "A Riverside Christmas Mystery"**


	16. Chapter 16

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 16**

" **Among the woods and fields, we love you well,** **  
** **Joanna!"**

 **William Wordsworth**

Jim, Spock, Leonard, and Gavin, reported to Admiral Nogura's office right after breakfast. Sonnai had commed Gavin at 3:00 am to tell him that the encryption had been broken. Gavin had the foresight to put his comm on vibrate so as not to wake the others. He crept quietly into the living room to speak with Sonnai.

"We have the name of the man who opened the account." Sonnai sounded exhausted but triumphant. "It was one of the most sophisticated and complicated encryptions we've ever seen, Sir, but we finally cracked it. I'm sending you everything we got."

"Excellent work, Sonnai! I knew you and your team could do it. Thank your team from all of us. I'm sure the Admiral will thank you personally," he said. He looked at his comm. "Your report is coming in now. I'll look it over and get back to you later, but for now all of you go get some rest; we'll talk later."

Gavin checked the file Sonnai had sent him and breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his comm and went back to bed. He was quiet, so as not to waken Jim. He would wait until morning to tell the others the good news. Anyway, they would have to wait for further orders from the Admiral about how to proceed now that they had the identity of one of the terrorists. In the morning, Gavin would make his report to the Admiral and they would decide how to proceed.

"I think we should stick with our plan, Gavin." Jim looked at him thoughtfully the next morning, as they ate their breakfast. "If we want to get the rest of this cell, we'll have to catch them in the act. Meanwhile, SIS can do what they do best, find where their location is and who else is involved and grab the others, much like we did on Vulcan."

"I agree with the Captain," Spock said. "It is not sufficient to catch only one terrorist, and I am very certain, he would not tell us the names of his associates."

McCoy nodded. "Psychologically speaking, these people are bound together by their motives; greed, power, terror, and other mutual goals and mindset. They won't give each other up; they've probably been in a group for a long time. I don't mind tellin' the Admiral that," he said to Gavin.

Gavin nodded his agreement. "We'll see what the Admiral has to say, but knowing him, I'm sure we'll proceed as planned. We'll go to Bern tomorrow night." Gavin stood up. "Are we ready to go?"

"We're ready," Jim said, picking up plates and mugs and taking them to the recycler. "I expect Ma sometime this morning, Bones. I don't know what time you want to release Joanna from the hospital."

"I'll wait until you mama gets here, Jim. We can get them settled here at the house together. Anyway, remember that Ensign Torres told us that Nogura had assigned a Yeoman to your ma, so if we're stuck at the meeting with the Admiral, someone will meet her. I also need to check on Jocelyn, see how the viral vector is working on her." He sighed. "I wish I knew why her recovery is so slow, I'll have to see if Joanna knows anything about her mama being sick before this."

"We require a report from all the SFM physicians who are treating the other infected patients, Leonard. We need a basis for comparison, to determine if it is only Ms. McCoy or some or all the other adults. I will send our request for that information to all of the doctors."

"You're right, Spock. I shoulda' thought of that," McCoy said, drawing a weary hand down his face, shoulders slumped.

"You have a lot on your mind, Bones." Jim put a comforting hand on his arm. "That's why we're all here, to help each other out, to help you out. Things are just catching up with you, that's all."

"I know, Jim, but I'm a doctor, I shoulda' thought of that right away."

"That is illogical, Doctor. No one can think of everything, every time one needs to. The human brain is not built like that. A Vulcan brain, on the other hand…" Spock raised an eyebrow, and stopped.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Leonard said irritably. "Your brain is twice as big as ours, and the same can be said about your ego too. I'm gonna' go get my med kit," he grumbled, but his shoulders were ram rod straight as he went into the bedroom.

Spock met Jim's gaze blandly, and Jim grinned. "Good work, Spock. You irritated him right out of his funk."

Spock opened his mouth to say something, but looking at Jim's knowing face, closed it again without saying a word.

* * *

Winona Kirk materialized at the main transporter station at Star Fleet Academy promptly at 8 am local San Francisco time. She handed over her identification papers to the transporter chief, and looked around at the expanse that was Star Fleet Academy. It was still the primary training facility for Starfleet Cadet training. It was located at the San Francisco Presidio and had been there since December 13, 2161 when it was founded.

Winona had been here many times in her life. First, when she and George had been cadets here and then gotten their commissions; hers in Xenobiology, and his in Command, and then later when Jim had been a student here and most recently at his graduation. What a proud day that had been for all of them, George, Sam, Aurelan, and herself. George had been beside himself with pride and happiness when Jim received his commission.

The Academy hadn't changed much, she was happy to see. It was still beautifully landscaped and vast. The transporter chief handed her credentials back to her, and beckoned to a young woman in uniform standing outside the transporter pad area.

"I believe the Ensign is waiting for you, Dr. Kirk," he said. "Welcome to the Academy."

Winona thanked him with a nod, and walked toward the young woman.

"Dr. Kirk? I'm Ensign Joyce Root. I have been assigned by Admiral Nogura to act as your liaison; anything you need I'll be happy to help you with."

Winona saw a young woman about 24 years old; she was small and compactly built and had short cropped hair. Her eyes were a deep brown, her complexion creamy, and her smile wide, showing even very white teeth.

"Thank you, Ensign. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Winona, especially if you're my liaison. There is no need to stand on formalities." Winona smiled at the young woman, showing her dimple.

"Thank you, Winona, please call me Joyce. Shall we go? Is this all the luggage you brought with you?" She looked at the carryall Winona had with her.

"Yes, that's all I have. It holds more than you'd think. Where are we going, Joyce?"

"I have orders to take you straight to Star Fleet Medical. Admiral Nogura is meeting with Captain Kirk and the others, and the Admiral told me that he'd like to welcome you as soon as the meeting is over." She led Winona to a small SF shuttle parked in the transporter parking area.

"Have you had breakfast, Dr. Kirk? I mean, Winona?" She smiled, as she asked.

"No, I had to leave the farm early, after I fed the animals, and take Peter to school, that's my grandson, he lives with me, and get to the Riverside Transporter Station by 7:30 am, so I didn't have time for breakfast."

"We'll stop at SFM for breakfast in the cafeteria, and wait for the Admiral to finish his meeting. Would that work?"

"That works for me," Winona said. "I'm hungry. Peter and I are used to a pretty big breakfast at the farm," she smiled. "I always feed the animals first," she added.

The cafeteria was full, it was that time of the morning when the night shift ended and the 9 am shift began. Joyce found them a seat at a small table, and they went through the line. Ensign Root opened her communicator and put in a code.

"Ensign Torres, here," came the disembodied voice.

"Ensign Torres, I've picked up Dr. Kirk. We're at SFM and we're going to have breakfast. Will you comm me when the Admiral is ready for us?"

"Yes, I will. It promises to be a long meeting. By the way, may I speak with Dr. Kirk?"

Ensign Root handed Winona the comm. "Yes, Ensign Torres?"

"Dr. Kirk, I have a message for you from Dr. McCoy. He is going to dismiss his daughter from the hospital this morning. He would like for you to join him when he's ready to do that. He said to tell you that Joanna will be very happy to see you again."

"Thank you, Ensign Torres. We will be here until you comm, then. Kirk out."

Ensign Root and Winona ate a leisurely breakfast, getting to know each other. Joyce was fascinated by Winona's description of farm life. She had been born and raised in the metropolis of San Francisco, and the small Iowa town of Riverside and the Kirk farm, seemed like an alien world to her. Winona told her about Ginger, Jim's horse, Dapple Winona's donkey, and the chickens, which gave her and Peter fresh eggs every day. 'Once you've had farm fresh eggs, you're spoiled for any other kind," Winona smiled, pointing at the ones in her plate. "These aren't too bad," she said, "as city eggs go, but for baking, our eggs can't be beat."

"Oh," Joyce said. "Do you bake, Winona? I love to bake! I don't get to do it too often, though. My apartment is tiny and the oven is even tinier, but when I go home, my mom and I like to bake, cookies mostly, and breads of all kinds."

"I bake a lot," Winona said. "Peter and his friends come in from school in the afternoon, and I always have cookies or breads for them to enjoy. The farm is pretty far out of town, and I like to make sure Peter's friends enjoy coming out to play and ride their bikes, so I sort of "bribe" them with baked goods." She smiled mischievously, her one dimple prominent. "We must exchange recipes," she said.

Ensign Root's communicator beeped. "The Admiral is ready for you and Dr. Kirk, Ensign," said Torres' voice.

"We'll be right there, Root out. Shall we go, Winona?" They picked up their trays and put them in the recycler. The main hall security scanner accepted Ensign Root's thumb print, and she imputed Winona's credentials which were also accepted.

At the entrance to the patient hall, the security officer stopped them, and checked their IDs and let them through. "Pretty tight security, isn't it?" Winona asked curiously.

"Yes, this is all new," Ensign Root replied. "Admiral's orders." She led them to a side hall, and they went through the Admiral's office door. Ensign Torres stood as they entered.

"Dr. Kirk. Welcome. I'm Ensign Torres, please come this way," he said, opening the door to the Admiral's office.

"Ma!" Delight on his handsome face, Jim reached her in two strides and hugged her hard. "Ma, it's so great to see you," he said, kissing her soft cheek. "What have you been up to, Dr. Kirk?" He whispered in her ear. "Ordering Admiral's and CMO's around."

"Jim!" His mother hugged back, her lovely face alight with happiness. "Just gave them some suggestions, dear," she whispered back, then louder. "It's so wonderful to see you, darling, unexpected though this visit may be," she said, her hazel eyes full of love and artless innocence, looking back into the mirror of her own eyes. Jim turned her to face the Admiral, but kept a protective arm tight around her. He was still unsure of the Admiral's possible ire towards his mother.

"Admiral Nogura, it's such a pleasure to see you again," Winona said, shaking his hand.

He smiled genially. "Dr. Kirk, it's a pleasure to have you here. I'm very much looking forward to your dinner invitation."

"It will be an honor, Admiral. I have the menu all planned," she told him. "Leonard, Mr. Spock." She turned to them and gave McCoy a swift, hard, hug, and did the same to Spock, to the astonishment of Nogura and the Ensigns. Who dared to hug a Vulcan?

Spock returned the hug placidly. "Dr. Kirk, it is very gratifying to see you again," he said. "I hope your travel here was without incident," he said. "How is young Peter?" Spock was very fond of Peter and Peter of him. They corresponded weekly, and Peter was honing his chess skills under Spock's tutelage.

"He's just fine. He's spending a few days with Marie Salvatore and her family, so he will be enjoying some fantastic food, and he and Marie's daughter, Dina, will have a fine time playing together," she said smiling. "He was sorry to miss seeing his Uncle Jim and all of you, but he can't miss any more classes," she said.

Gavin was patiently waiting his turn to hug Winona, when she turned to him and opened her arms. "Gavin, dear."

"Great to see you," he told her, enfolding her in a tight hug. "I'm happy you could come help Leonard."

"We're finished with our meeting, Ma. Bones wants to get Joanna released and settled back at the house. Are you ready?"

"Yes of course, Jim. I'm anxious to see Joanna, Leonard. You won't have to worry about a thing, I'll take great care of her," she assured him, looking into Leonard's blue eyes.

"I don't doubt it for a minute, Winona. I wouldn't entrust her to anyone else."

They took their leave of the Admiral and walked down to the hospital wing to Joanna's room. "Ma, we all came in Gavin's shuttle, but we don't all fit, so Gavin will take you, Joanna and Bones to the house, and Spock, Ensign Root and I will get a ride over there with Ensign Torres. Bones and Spock have to come back to SFM to supervise a couple of things, but I'll stay at the house and fill you in on things." His eyes answered her questioning glance. "The Admiral has given us permission to brief you about the rest of the mission, Ma. Gavin and I are meeting some SIS agents in Bern late tomorrow night for the rest of this mission. You already know about the Choriocytosis attack anyway, and after New York and Vulcan, he values your input." **1**

"That's good to hear, Jim. I know it's a very classified and delicate mission and one reason I wanted to come is so Leonard could work on this mission without worrying about Joanna. I know what it's like to have young children and have work conflict with your family responsibilities." Her hazel eyes looked at her son, but her thoughts were far back in time when Jim and Sam were young children, how with George gone, sometimes she was torn about what to do. Thank God, she'd had her parents and George's parents to help her when she needed help.

As if reading her thoughts, Jim said softly, "You were always a great mom, attentive and loving. Sam and I couldn't have had a better childhood."

Her eyes glistened momentarily, thinking of Sam, but then she blinked and the moment passed. They were at Joanna's door. Leonard opened it and peeked in. Joanna was sitting up in bed playing with the plush panda Jim had given her. "Joanna, darlin'. I have a big surprise for you!"

"What daddy, what's the 'prise?" Joanna turned eagerly to her father.

McCoy stepped aside and drew Winona gently into the room. The little girl's blue eyes, so much like her father's widened and then she shrieked in excitement. "Noni! Noni!"

Winona was at her side immediately and drew her into a big hug! "Hi Monkey. Was this a big surprise?" She asked in the child's ear as she clutched Winona around the waist.

"Daddy," Joanna said, reproach in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me Noni was comin'?"

"'Cause then it wouldn't have been a surprise," her father said, tousling the curly dark hair. "And what fun would that be?"

"Is Peter here, Noni?" Joanna looked around for the little boy.

"No, sweetheart. Peter couldn't miss school, so I came by myself to see you, and I'm going to stay a few days. We're going to have such a good time. Your daddy told me you can leave the hospital today."

"Really, daddy?"

"Really." McCoy beckoned to the smiling, waiting nurse and asked her to get Joanna ready to leave. "I'm just gonna' go next door and check on your mama, darlin'"

"Is mama still sick?" Joanna's blue eyes were troubled. "She's not better like me?"

"She's getting better, honey, but not as fast as you did. You were super speedy getting well. You surprised us all, you got well so fast." McCoy looked at Jim who had come in to stand by his mother.

"Hey, Baby Girl, "he said, leaning in to kiss the rosy cheek. "How's my sweet girl doing?"

"Good, Uncle Jim. I've been playing with my panda and I'm going to leave here today."

"Glad you like him. Joanna," he said, taking the small hand in his own and tickling her small palm slightly. "I'm very happy you're leaving the hospital today. You and Noni are going to have a good time," he smiled at her. "Baby Girl, do you know if your mama was sick before your trip?"

Joanna giggled at the tickling fingers, and clutched his fingers. "Yes, she had a bad cold, Uncle Jim. Mama said she still had to go on that trip though, even if she didn't feel good."

"Ah," said Spock. He signaled to McCoy and they walked to the door. "That explains the slowness of the viral vector. She also had the cold virus in her system. While you check on Ms. McCoy, I will update all the doctors at the various SFM sites."

"Well, I don't mind tellin' you, that's a relief to hear, Spock," McCoy said going out the door. "I'll be right back, and we'll get this show on the road."

* * *

 **1 See "Ring of Treason" and "A Gift of Celebration."**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 17**

" **Once More into the breach, dear friends,**

 **Once more."**

 **Henry V**

 **William Shakespeare**

After his visit to Jocelyn, McCoy reported that she was doing better; the viral vector was slowly doing its work. "I think I can wake her up tomorrow," he said. "The duty nurse reported that her vitals have been improvin' all day."

"That's great, Bones," Jim told him. "Even if it takes a little longer, she's going to recover."

McCoy finished the paperwork for Joanna's dismissal as the nurse got her dressed, her hair combed, and they gathered up her things. Spock stepped out to comm the various doctors at the SFM facilities that housed the infected patients. He soon came back to report that all of the doctors agreed to check for any previous illnesses their patients may have had prior to the Choriocytosis infection; they would monitor all of them closely.

McCoy got Joanna settled in the back seat of the shuttle, and Gavin piloted them back to the house. Jim and the others would soon follow. Joanna chatted excitedly, happy that she was going to spend time with her daddy and that Winona was going to take care of her when her daddy had to work. McCoy had gently explained that mama was still asleep, and that it would be a couple of days before Joanna could visit and speak with her. He was relieved to see that she accepted the information without protest.

Gavin parked the shuttle, and McCoy, holding Joanna's hand, made his way into the house and showed her and Winona the bedroom which would be theirs. Winona looked around. "This is just fine, Leonard. Joanna and I will unpack our things, so if you have something you need to do, you go right ahead. We'll be fine."

McCoy nodded, already preoccupied with the mission. He corralled Spock and they went to their bedroom so McCoy could write up all his notes and the updates on the viral vector dosages that had been replicated so far. McCoy's report would go out to all the SFM facilities and also to Vulcan. Every medical facility had to be prepared; tonight the Admiral would be receiving the call from the terrorist, and he would try to delay the transfer of the 50 million credits until Audrey Strong and Byron Chapman, now at the bank, had enough time to get things situated there. Lt. Commander Strong had reported to Gavin that they were in place at the bank. There had been a few questions that morning about the absence of Bilcher and Gessner, she said, but, since she and Chapman had pled ignorance, that they were there because the banking commission had sent them there, their unexpected presence had been accepted without much question. Gavin credited most of that to the impeccable credentials his operatives had flashed around and the tight gag order imposed after the arrests of the two embezzlers.

Gavin told the two agents that he and Jim would leave for Bern late tonight and they would meet in their hotel rooms to debrief. "I'll comm when we check in, Audrey,"

Gavin flipped his comm closed and smiled to himself. Jim would have to don his glasses, hair dye, and mustache again and he wondered what Winona would say about his disguise.

In the bedroom while unpacking, Winona noticed that Joanna didn't have many clothes with her. Jocelyn's business trip was supposed to have been only for a couple of days, so the child would need more clothes. She would ask Ensign Root to go pick up a few more things for Joanna; some jeans, long sleeve t shirts, a fleece jacket with a hood, and some socks. That would do for the next few days. The little girl was pleased when Winona told her she would have a few new things to wear.

After unpacking, Winona got Joanna settled in the living room, gave her a padd to play some educational games, and then went to investigate the kitchen for provisions. Ensign Torres had done well, but they would definitely need more variety for the little girl. More fruits, vegetables and milk for sure. She got out her padd to make a list and was working on it, when Jim, Spock, and Ensign Root came in.

"Ma! Are you in the kitchen already?" Jim came up behind her, startling her with a sly kiss on the cheek as he plucked an apple from her hand and took a big bite. "James Tiberius Kirk, that was for Joanna. Shame on you." She looked at him in disapproval.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Are there any more apples for Joanna?"

He sounded and looked so contrite, that she had to smile at her golden eyed son. "Yes of course there are. I'm just checking to see what else we need to buy for her. I want her to eat well, she needs good nourishing food."

"Knowing you, she'll get it. We're all of us in for a treat with your cooking, Ma." He looked around. "If you have a few minutes, I want to brief you on the mission. Gavin and I are leaving late tonight for Bern."

Joyce said, "You go on, Winona. I'll finish the list. I have a good idea about what kids like to eat, I have 3 younger siblings."

"Thank you, Joyce. I won't be long," Winona said. "Would you please give Joanna an apple and a glass of juice or milk? Whatever we have is fine."

"Let's go outside, Ma and take a walk," Jim said. "We won't be interrupted that way."

They went out the front door. It was a beautiful day; what little fog there had been, had burned off, and the sun was shining brightly. The Academy looked beautiful, its buildings shining in the bright light and crisp air. Jim drew his mother's hand through the crook of his arm, and as they walked, he filled her in on their trip to Bern, the search for the account, the arrest of Gessner and Bilcher, and Sonnai's breakthrough. Winona listened attentively. "So you and Gavin will be on hand when the terrorist or terrorists come to the bank to get the money?"

"Yes, we'll be there as back up, along with the two operatives already in place, plus Gavin will have a couple of more agents in place as customers going in and out of the bank." He looked over at his mother's set face. "We'll be fine, Ma. Don't worry. Lot's of back up and we anticipate a quiet arrest with little fanfare."

Winona sighed. She had been a Star Fleet wife and mother too long to feel reassured by Jim's words. When he was out in space on his five year mission, she could put the danger he was in out of her mind for long periods of time. It was the only way to cope and she was well practiced at it. It also helped that Jim was meticulous about sending either a letter vid or a real time message weekly to her and Peter. Like most young men away from home, leading a busy exciting life, he had not always been so conscientious about sending regular vid letters home, but since Sam's and Aurelan's death, and since becoming Peter's legal guardian along with Winona that had changed.

"I'll try not to worry, sweetheart. Just be sure you're well armed, have your phaser on you, and whatever else you can carry with you to defend yourself, and you and Gavin watch each other's back."

"Ma!" Jim sounded slightly scandalized. "That sounds a little blood thirsty!"

"Nonsense, Jim. You're a Star Fleet officer and Gavin is an SIS agent. I know you two are well able to take care of yourself, just don't underestimate these men."

"We won't; try not to worry, Ma."

"That's impossible, son. Mother's never stop worrying, it's our default mode," she smiled.

They went in the house and Winona began to prepare lunch for everyone. She fixed grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, knowing that Joanna loved this meal, and would have it as many times as she could get it. She would be a little better prepared for dinner. After lunch, the little girl sat down to read a story on her padd, and Joyce Root took her leave in order to do the errands Winona needed done.

"I'll order the groceries on your list, Winona, and have them delivered. From there I'll go shopping for Joanna's clothes."

"Thank you, Joyce. I'm going to put Joanna down for a nap. Dr. McCoy says she has to have one every day for the next few days. I'm sure she'll tell me she's too old for a nap, so I'll read her a story first, and get her relaxed and sleepy."

Gavin and Jim were going over their strategies for the bank mission protocols, and Spock and Jim were writing their reports, when all four coms rang at once. They all answered to hear Ensign Torres say, "Admiral Nogura wants all of you in his office immediately."

"Has something happened, Ensign?" Jim asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say, Captain. You are to report here immediately."

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Gavin said, already up and ready to move. He looked at the other three men. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

McCoy sighed. "We better git goin' then, we'll find out soon enough."

They entered SFM and Jim looked around. Security had been doubled since this morning. He met Spock's knowing eyes. "Something has happened, Captain," Spock said somberly.

"I don't like the look of this, Jim." McCoy's voice was somber.

"I concur, Doctor. Something is very wrong," Spock agreed.

They gave their credentials to the security guards; now there were four of them, and then went through the retina scanner. Jim saw there were now guards in the corridor leading to the Admiral's office as well.

"What the hell is going on?" He and Gavin looked grimly at each other as they went through the door of the Admiral's office.

"Go right in, Sirs." Ensign Torres looked pale and his hair was in disorder, as if he had been running his hands through it.

The Admiral was in front of his desk, obviously waiting for them; he looked very angry, but his face lightened with relief when he saw them. "Sit down, gentlemen." He clicked something on his padd.

"There's been another attack. Thank God it was a small taxi shuttle with only two passengers and the taxi driver. The taxi was apparently chosen at random. I received this note just minutes prior to the attack," he said. "We've already identified the taxi, the driver and the passengers, and they've been taken to SFM in New York We told them they had been exposed to a very contagious flu virus off world, and the bio sensors had been triggered. They will be in quarantine for the next few days. The three of them accepted the explanation. They weren't happy as you can imagine, but they accepted it. We also notified their families about what happened." He sighed wearily. "It's all about control and proving they are ruthless. The bastard even sent me the taxi number so I would know about the attack right away, flaunting their power over the Federation and Star Fleet. I've sent the letter to your padds so you can look at it. Gavin pass it on to you encryption agents and see if they can get anymore out of it."

"Yes Sir."

They read:

 ** _Admiral Nogura:_**

 ** _This attack is just a small reminder of our power and our reach. You do not know where or when we will strike, or how many innocent lives are at risk. The solution to all this is in your hands._**

 ** _You will hear from me again this evening. I anticipate that the powers that be will see reason about the 50 million credits and there will be no delay._**

 ** _Until we speak this evening._**

Gavin and Jim exchanged worried glances.

"Now I'm even more concerned about tonight when you speak to the terrorist, Admiral." Gavin said. "We can't afford to make him angry. I'm worried that asking for a delay may set off more attacks."

"That was my thought, exactly. That's why I called you in. If you have a suggestion about how to play this, I'm open to any and all suggestions."

McCoy took a deep breath and rubbed his tired eyes. "This man is an egomaniac, Admiral. You have to pander to his ego. I suggest that you sound a little cowed on the comm." He ignored the Admiral's glare. "Make him think he's got you over a barrel; tell him that the Federation high ups are giving you a very hard time about giving you the credits. Make him think that you are between a devil and a bigger devil," McCoy told him. "Lead him on a little, tell him you are anxious to meet his demands, but that there is no way to acquire 50 million credits in so little time. Tell him you had to work for the three days to convince the Federation to agree to his terms. Pretend that you're exhausted and demoralized, but that you're more than willing to give him his credits. You just need 12 hours to make the arrangements for the transaction. Tell him that the Federation Bankers wanted to monitor the transaction and you've talked them out of it as an act of good faith."

"Do you think he'll buy all that, Dr. McCoy?" The Admiral looked dubious.

"Yes, I do, Sir. These egomaniacs have a big weakness, as Captain Kirk will attest, since we've run into several of them on our five year mission. They enjoy seeing people squirm and dancing to their tune. The more you convince him that you're under his power and squirming, the more amenable he'll get. Pander to that ego, Sir. That's my advice to you."

"Gentlemen?" The Admiral looked at the other three men.

"Dr. McCoy is an excellent psychologist, Admiral. I have never had him give me bad advice," Jim told him. "It's true that we have had run in with some megalomaniacs during our mission, and I have to agree with the doctor. His assessment of their characters has been on the money."

"Commander Bradford?"

"I don't think we have any choice, Admiral."

"Very well, gentlemen. I'll do as you suggest. I'll comm you as soon as I finish my conversation with the terrorist. Be ready to transport to Bern late this evening."

"Aye, Sir."

The Admiral rose and dismissed them. McCoy excused himself for a brief visit to Jocelyn. Her status was improved, but basically unchanged, McCoy reported. He would come back to check on her in the morning.

"I will accompany you tomorrow, Doctor, and I will contact the other physicians caring for the infected and ascertain their status. I also wish to contact the Vulcan Science Academy and update them."

Gavin piloted the shuttle back to the house. Ensign Root had finished her errands and Winona was in the kitchen with Joyce and Joanna working on dinner.

"Hi Daddy," Joanna said, and jumped down from the chair where she was peeling carrots to hug her father. She was wearing a tea towel around her waist in lieu of an apron and her long hair was caught up in a pony tail.

"What are you doing, Baby Girl"?

"I'm learning how to cook, daddy, and Miss Joyce is teaching me how to peel carrots. Noni is going to teach me cooking stuff while she's taking care of me. I'll be able to cook for you and Uncle Jim next time you go to Georgia."

"Well, now, that's a mighty fine idea." McCoy grinned at Winona. "You couldn't find a better cooking teacher, that's for sure."

"Something smells really good, Ma." Jim sniffed.

"I thought we'd have a nice big salad with lots of vegetables, some good hot bread, and some corn chowder for supper. It's a chilly evening, and corn chowder will be perfect. How does that sound? Joyce baked a pie for dessert." She smiled at the Ensign.

"That sounds great, Ma. Gavin and I are leaving for Bern later tonight, so a good hot meal wouldn't go amiss." Jim looked meaningfully at her. "I'll update you later on what's happened." He grabbed a carrot from Joanna and began munching on it. He leaned in to kiss the rosy cheek. "That's payment for the carrot, sweet girl." He grinned as she giggled.

Gavin leaned against the counter, looking around the crowded kitchen. "Anything we can do to help, Winona?"

"Yes, please, Gavin. If you all would please set the table, and get the glasses filled with water, I'd appreciate it. Put milk in Joanna's glass please, Mr. Spock." She turned and looked at Ensign Root. "Please join us for dinner, Joyce. We'd love to have you stay, right Joanna?"

"Right. Please stay, Miss Joyce."

Ensign Root blushed and smiled. "I'd love to stay if it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all, Ensign. My mother likes nothing better than to have her dinner table filled with friends and family as all of us here can tell you."

They sat down to dinner and some delicious pie and coffee afterward. McCoy was pleased that Joanna ate all her food with a good appetite. Afterward, Joyce took her leave, telling Winona she would be back in the morning.

McCoy entertained Joanna while Gavin packed for their trip. Jim, speaking softly to his mother, told her about the latest attack and the Admiral's prospective comm with the terrorist. Joanna kissed Winona and Jim goodnight and McCoy took her to bed.

Gavin sat Jim down for his mustache and hair color disguise. He swallowed a grin when he got a glimpse of Winona's disapproving face. It was obvious that she agreed with Spock about Jim's disguise not being aesthetically pleasing.

When he finished, they sat in the living room waiting for the Admiral's comm. If everything went according to plan with the terrorist, immediately afterward, Gavin and Jim would leave for Bern.


	18. Chapter 18

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 18**

 **The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it."**

 **Moliere**

It was getting late into the evening; Joanna had been asleep for hours. Gavin was on his comm to Sonnai and his team trying to find out if they'd gotten more from the new threatening letter from the terrorist. Jim was working on his never ending reports due to the Admiralty. He didn't want to put that on Mr. Scott, who had his hands full minding the ship. McCoy was updating his data on the Choriocytosis viral vector and making notes for what, eventually, when this was over, would be a paper published in the Journal of Intergalactic Medicine under his and Spock's names. Spock was also writing a report to the Vulcan Science Academy. Winona sat in the chair under one of the lamps, knitting a new outfit for Davy. There had been very little conversation among them. Everyone was waiting for the Admiral's comm. The success or failure of this mission was riding on the call between the terrorist and the Admiral.

Winona lifted her head from her knitting. "Would anyone like a hot drink? I have hot chocolate, hot tea, and I can make hot cider if everyone would prefer that."

"Hot chocolate sounds great, Ma. It's damp and chilly out, and it would hit the spot. Let me help you."

"Thank you, dear." Jim followed her to the kitchen and they soon came out with a tray of steaming hot chocolate. The smell was rich and homey, and the men reached out eagerly for their mugs.

"Reminds me of our time at the farm last Christmas, Winona. Seems like I drank my weight in hot chocolate while we were there."

"Indeed," Spock said. "I developed a preference for it while I was there."

"It's the Kirk beverage of choice during cold winter days, Leonard. It's Peter's favorite, always."

"And Jim's," added her son, smiling at her, taking a sip of the delicious beverage.

They sat sipping in quiet and comfort, when the four comms beeped at once startling them all.

"Nogura here," said the Admiral's voice.

"Yes, Sir," Jim said, after receiving a nod from Gavin. "What happened, Admiral?"

They heard the tired sigh on the other end of the comm. "It was a very difficult conversation, Captain. It took a good hour and all my considerable persuasive powers to convince the terrorist that he would have his 50 million credits by the end of the working day tomorrow. He almost balked, but I pointed out to him, that having patience for 12 hours would be rewarded with 50 million credits, just as his recalcitrance and impatience would yield him nothing but a massive world wide man hunt by every law enforcement agency on the planet. That said man hunt would not stop until he was found. I also told him that I, without compunction, would effect a shoot to kill order for the manhunt."

"So that worked, Admiral?"

"He counter threatened me with more attacks of Choriocytosis, more infected men, women and children; I stood firm, and told him, in the military we are accustomed to collateral damage. I also said I could do no more with the Federation Governors, but if he'd like to negotiate with someone else other than me, he was welcome to try. I said that he must obviously be a highly intelligent and organized individual to plan and execute a plan such as he did and that I was confident he would make the right decision. You were correct, Dr. McCoy, I could almost hear him preen. I think that's what turned the tide. He finally agreed to the 12 hour delay. Commander Bradford?"

"Yes Sir, I'm here."

"Have Lt. Connolly come by my office. We'll take care of the credit transfer from here. Be sure he understands the credits must be monitored at all times, before, during, and after the deposit. I want electronic eyes on it constantly; I want his assurance the terrorist won't be able to get his hands on the credits."

"Aye, Sir. I'll have him report to you immediately." Gavin eyed Jim and rolled his eyes slightly. The Admiral was nothing if not a control freak, but with 50 million credits, he couldn't really blame him.

"Admiral, Captain Kirk and I are ready to go to Bern. Any last minute orders, Sir?"

"I don't have to tell you, how much is riding on the success of this mission, Commander. Just stay alert, watch each other's backs, and remember these men are ruthless. I want a report after you meet with your team tonight in Bern. I assume everything went well today, or we would have heard otherwise."

"Yes, Sir. Captain Kirk and I are meeting with my team in our hotel room as soon as we get there. I'll report to you afterward. It will be very late though, Sir."

"It doesn't matter, Commander. Sleeping seems to be a thing of the past. I don't imagine I'll get much sleep until this is all over. It doesn't matter what time it is; just be sure to use my personal comm. I'll have it with me at all times."

"Aye, Sir."

"Good luck to you and Captain Kirk, Commander. Nogura out."

Gavin closed his comm and looked at Jim. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Jim said, standing up and picking up his duffle. He went over and hugged his mother. "We'll be back soon, Ma. Try not to worry," he whispered in her ear.

"I'll try, son. Take care of each other."

"Spock and Bones, keep me posted if anything comes up with Joanna or the viral vector. Leave a message if I don't answer my comm."

"Yes, Captain."

"Jim….be careful. Don't do anything foolhardy. Remember who you're dealin' with, okay. I won't be with you to patch you up and more's the pity," he muttered to himself, already worried about having Jim away from his watchful eye.

"Gavin and I will be careful. We'll comm tomorrow in any case to update everyone."

He and Gavin parked the shuttle close to the main transporter area of Star Fleet Academy. The transporter hub was busy at all times, 24 hours a day. Star Fleet and Star Fleet Medical personnel constantly transported in and out of the area to all parts of the planet and to ships docked at the San Francisco Mooring Station. Gavin, who knew the transporter chief, took him aside for a brief explanation of Jim's disguise.

"No problem, Commander. I have already received orders from Admiral,Nogura's office through Ensign Torres. He ordered high priority transport for all your team no matter the hour."

They were admitted into the waiting area and escorted to the front of the queue. Jim, looking around, leaned in to Gavin. "Looks like the Admiral has ordered added security throughout the Academy and SFM." There were very visible red shirts all over the campus and around the transporter hub."

Gavin nodded. "The whole campus is vulnerable, being so open and spread out." He sighed. "It's really a futile effort, but a visible deterrent force is a good idea."

"You're up next, Sir." The transporter chief beckoned to the pad and Gavin handed him the coordinates destination. "San Francisco to New York, New York to Bern. I'll notify the New York Star Fleet transporter officer to be ready for you and put you at the head of the queue there."

Jim and Gavin materialized on the pad at the New York SF main transporter pad and they were immediately escorted to the adjacent destination pad. Gavin again requested the beam in as close to the hotel as possible and they materialized in Bern in exactly the same location as last time.

They walked into the hotel to check in. The same clerk was at the desk. "Welcome back Mr. McCall and Mr. Corrigan," he said. "Is Mr. Cassetti not with you this visit?"

Jim was impressed with his memory. The clerk must do check ins for hundreds of beings every week. Gavin smiled at him genially. "Not at the moment." he said. "We're back to present our report to the bank board. We'll probably only be here a couple of days."

The clerk handed them their electronic keys. "You are in your old suite, gentlemen, and if there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know."

In the lift Gavin put in Lt. Commander Audrey Strong's comm code. She answered immediately. "We're here, Audrey. Just checked in. Meet us in our suite, 5089 In 30 minutes and I'll have our debrief then."

Commander Audrey Strong and Lt. Byron Chapman reported to Gavin dressed in their civilian clothes, careful not to attract attention in the lift or hotel hallways. Gavin introduced them to Jim and to Gavin's amusement, and Jim's obvious embarrassment, they looked with some awe at the renowned Captain Kirk. Gavin cleared his throat. "Please sit down and we'll get started. I want you to take detailed notes as our time line is going to be very tight."

He pulled out his own padd. "First, I want to be sure you'll have your new phasers on you at all times starting tomorrow morning. Captain Kirk and I will also carry ours, and so will our "walk in agents" that will be in and out of the bank starting late tomorrow afternoon. Captain Kirk will now give you the mission parameters and timeline. Jim?"

"Here's how it's going to go down," Jim said, nodding at the two who had taken out their encrypted pads to take notes. "You two will report to the bank tomorrow morning in your new positions as Bank Manager and her Assistant. Admiral Nogura and Sonnai Connolly will meet in his office tomorrow afternoon to transfer the 50 million credits. The bank closes at 4:00 pm and Lt. Connolly will make the 50 million credit transfer at 3:57 pm. The credits will be constantly tracked by Lt. Connolly. The transaction will show up in the terrorist's account immediately and he'll be able to confirm the transfer, but he of course, will not be able to access them. We think that he will then comm the Admiral immediately to complain and threaten; the Admiral will disavow any responsibility for his difficulty. The fault, he will say, is with the bank. Star Fleet and the Federation kept their side of the bargain and transferred the money to Bern. The Admiral will strongly suggest that he deal directly with the bank and you can expect the first comm call from the terrorist immediately after that. You will respond to his call, but inform him that nothing can be done until the next working day; all bank transactions are always credited and accessible the following working day. You will also inform him that for such a large deposit, two forms of identifications must be presented in person to the bank manager. This new procedure was instigated by the Federation Banking Commission because of large illegal credit deposits attempted by Orion pirates trying to launder profits from their slave trades. I'm sure he'll protest strongly, but the Commander will tell him it's out of her hands, it's a law the bank must abide by. When he comes in the next day to speak with Commander Strong, Lt. Chapman will escort him to her office and Commander Bradford and I will move in and apprehend him, hopefully quietly and without incident."

"Captain, do you think he'll fall for it?" Lt. Chapman's doubt was in his voice

"I believe he will, Lieutenant. My CMO, Dr. McCoy, the best psychologist in the fleet, believes greed and ego is what drives this man, and that he'll take the bait. He's a ruthless, driven individual who lets nothing stand in his way and 50 million credits is a powerful motivator."

"Any other questions or concerns?" Gavin stretched his neck and back. Lord, he was tired and in need of sleep. "If not, let's get some rest. We'll have to be at the bank in a few hours and Captain Kirk and I still have to give our report to the Admiral."

"No, Sir, no questions," Lt. Commander Strong said. " I think we've got everything we need. Good night. See you at the bank tomorrow morning."

"Oh, one more thing, Audrey. Jim and I will report to you when we come in. It's protocol for auditors to report to the bank manager. We'll spend the day in the same room we were assigned before. With the door open we can see the main entrance of the bank and everyone who comes in and out. Byron, you'll be the liaison, that's the way we worked before and it will be easier to brief each other. Remember that it has to be you to escort the terrorist to Audrey's office, don't let any other bank employee get close to him, so be vigilant and very careful."

"Aye, Sir."

They said good night and Jim closed and locked the door behind them. "I want a hot shower and some sleep, Gavin. Do you want me to comm the Admiral?"

"I'll do it, Jim." He smiled. "Just don't get your hair or mustache wet."

Jim grimaced. "I'd already forgotten about them," he admitted ruefully.

He came out of the head in his sleep pants and t shirt. Gavin was on the comm with the Admiral, and Gavin put him on speaker when he saw Jim.

"Lt. Connolly and I are set here, Commander. You and the Captain will hear from me immediately after the transfer tomorrow. I want you all to be hyper vigilant after the deposit. Take him alive and as quietly as possible. He'll have valuable Intel about his accomplices in the terrorist cell. He won't want to tell us anything, but we'll get the information out of him. We can't have these people running around terrorizing our Federation citizens. Not on my watch," the Admiral said.

"No Sir," Jim said, stepping up to the comm. "We'll get them, Admiral, and hopefully without further incidents."

"I have confidence that you will. Goodnight, Captain, Commander. Nogura out."

Jim sighed. "Let's hit the hay, Gavin. We have a very long day tomorrow."


	19. Chapter 19

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 19**

 **"It's all about the strategy."**

 **Michael Schumacher**

Jim and Gavin woke to the beeping of their comms. It was Lt. Commander Audrey Strong.

"Commander, Captain. We're leaving for the bank. It's almost 8 am local time. We'll see you in an hour or so. We're as ready as we'll ever be."

"Good luck, Audrey. We'll be there at 9:00 am. Bradford out."

Gavin ordered room service and he and Jim ate a leisurely breakfast, going over their time line once more and checking their weapons. Gavin checked Jim's hair color and mustache and pronounce them good to go.

"I think I'll comm Ma, Gavin. I want to check on her and Joanna." He picked up his comm to go back to the bedroom.

"Good idea, Jim. I wish I could comm Violet, but it only makes her worry more. I now know to wait until the end of a mission before we talk." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He and Violet had yet to talk about their future together and the danger of his job. Always sensitive to the fact that Violet had been widowed once, Gavin knew how difficult it was for her to discuss the obvious dangers of some of his missions.

Gavin could hear Jim's soft voice as he spoke with Winona, then he heard a laugh and knew that it was Joanna who'd made Jim chuckle. Jim walked back to the living room.

"Okay, Ma. I'll comm you as soon as I can. You and Joanna have a good time today. Gavin and I expect some delicious cookies or pies when we get back. Love you, both. Kirk out."

"Everything all right, Jim?"

"Yeah, they're doing fine. Joanna is feeling good, woke up with a good appetite. Ma said Bones and Spock already went to the hospital. Bones is going to check on Jocelyn's status to see if he can wake her up later on, but Ma says, Bones will keep her in the hospital for a couple of more days. Her recovery has been slow, and he doesn't want to take a chance on a relapse." Jim sighed. "I'm not telling any big secrets here, Gavin. You know what hoops I had to go through to get Joanna to the farm at Christmas to be with Bones. Jocelyn has been very difficult and even belligerent towards Bones. She's tried her best to keep Joanna away from him. The child adores him, in spite of Jocelyn, and Bones sees her as much as he's allowed to and there isn't a week that he misses a comm with her. I've advised him to hire a good Fleet lawyer to negotiate for a better custody agreement. With his stellar reputation as my CMO, there's no court who'd deny him. Spock, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov, and I have all told him we'd be character witnesses too."

"Why hasn't he done it, Jim?"

"Joanna would have to testify in court about her mother's belligerence and antagonism against her father, and Bones refuses to put her through that. It's not fair to either of them, but the McCoy clan is notorious for their stubbornness. The last time we talked about it, he said maybe when Joanna is a little older he'll do it. Meanwhile, he broods and hides his pain and misses Baby Girl terribly." Jim's hazel eyes were bleak. McCoy's pain hurt him too.

"Maybe when Ms. McCoy realizes that Leonard saved her life and that of her daughter, she'll have a change of heart."

"Maybe," Jim said, sounding dubious. "To tell you the truth, I'm at the point of interfering and having a blunt conversation with Ms. Darnel-McCoy. If not me, Ma. She adores Joanna and thinks the world of Bones and Ma doesn't have any patience with people who hold grudges."

"I can't even imagine how it must feel to not be able to see your only child."

"Yeah," Jim said. "Bones hides his pain under his gruffness and grumpiness, but it's a damn difficult situation for him."

Gavin glanced at his chronometer. "We'd better get ready to go," he said, grabbing his comm and his padds. He and Jim checked each other over, making sure they looked their part, their disguises exactly the same as their previous visits to the bank. They exited the hotel, and headed towards the bank. The Bern air felt like champagne; clean, crisp, and fresh. The day was filled with golden sunlight and the mountains could be seen clearly on the horizon. The Bernese Alps, with the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau snow capped peaks were clearly visible in the morning light.

As they walked, Jim looked longingly at the mountains. "Wish we could take a day trip to the mountains for some skiing," he told Gavin. The views must be glorious and the snow looks like perfect powder for skiing."

"It seems we never have much time for fun," Gavin said, ruefully. They crossed the street and stopped at the main entrance of the bank. The Zytglogge, the Bernese German Astronomical Clock, the land mark medieval tower built in the early 15th century, which had served the city as guard tower, prison, memorial, and clock tower, chimed the hour. It was 9 am on the dot. The main doors to the bank opened immediately. The uniformed security guard greeted them politely.

"Welcome back, gentlemen."

"Thank you; it's good to be back in your beautiful city," Jim replied genially.

Lt. Chapman, under the guise of Assistant Bank Manager, came forward to greet them. "Mr. Corrigan, Mr. McCall, welcome back. We were notified by the Banking Commission that you'd be returning to give us your preliminary forensic report. Unfortunately, Mr. Bichel and Mr. Gessner are no longer with our bank. I'm Paul McClain, the new Assistant to our new Bank Manager, Ms. Marie Gardetto. You will be giving your preliminary report to her when you're ready.

"Thank you, Mr. McClain. We'll be ready to meet with her later today. We want to double check a few things and generate a hard copy of the report. It is customary for us to go over every line item. Tedious, but necessary, particularly if Ms. McClain is new here."

"Of course, although I can assure you," Lt. Chapman said loudly enough that the listening ears of the bank personnel could hear, "she has years of experience managing banks, or else the Banking Commission would not have sent her here to such a prestigious bank." His eyes gleamed as he looked at Gavin and Jim.

Gavin nodded. "I'm sure of that. Now we would like to get started," he said. He pointed to the door across from them. "We were in that conference room before, and we'll be perfectly comfortable being there again."

Chapman led them into the room under the watching eyes of the clerks and guard. He closed the door behind him. Since Bichel and Gessner were gone, Gavin didn't bother with the sound dampener. They could speak freely now; the door was thick and soundproof.

"How did it go this morning, Lieutenant?"

"Fine, Sir. We arrived at 8 am and presented our credentials to the executive secretary. She had already received a message from the "Banking Commission" that we would be arriving this morning. SIS took care of everything so our introduction went very smoothly; of course our credentials were impeccable."

"Good. Glad to hear my office was so efficient. Thank you, Lieutenant. Please ask Lt. Commander Strong to come in. I have a few last minute things I'd like to discuss with you both.

"Aye, Sir," he said and went in search for the Lieutenant Commander.

Gavin opened his comm and put in the Admiral's office code. Ensign Torres answered immediately. "Torres here."

"Ensign Torres. This is Commander Bradford. Please advise the Admiral that we are all in place at the bank. Captain Kirk and I will be here all day, and I'll comm him after the credit transfer and the call from the terrorist." Gavin paused. "Did the Admiral get any rest last night, Ensign?"

He heard Ensign Torres sigh. "I left the office at 11 pm last night, Sir, and the Admiral was still here. I offered to stay, but he said no, ordered me to go get some rest. I don't think he got much sleep from the way he looks this morning, and I couldn't talk him into taking a short nap."

"Well, here's hoping that this mission will be over by tomorrow and the Admiral can rest after that. Thank you, Ensign. Bradford out," Gavin said as Strong and Chapman came into the room.

Jim stood and pulled two chairs close to the large desk. Gavin got out his padd and checked his mission parameters once more.

"Lt. Commander," he said to Strong. "Did you and Chapman bring your phasers with you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Keep them on you at all times. I don't think we'll need them until tomorrow, but we can't let down our guard down at all. When the terrorist calls this afternoon, stand firm, don't let him rattle you. You can always fall back on the Federation Banking Laws that you must abide by and for which you have no control. If gets belligerent, tell him you'll be glad to turn over his complaint to your supervisor, but make sure he knows it will delay his getting the credits even more. That's his weak point; he wants that 50 million as quickly as possible. Dr. McCoy did us a great favor; he did an in depth psych profile on him, which I'm sending to your padds. Study it carefully, Audrey."

He turned to Jim. "Anything you want to add, Jim?"

"Yes," Jim said, his face somber. "Just one thing. During some of our _Enterprise_ missions we've had encounters with egocentric, egomaniac "super beings"; in every instance, that ego was their downfall. When a being feels vasrly superior to everyone else, it leaves them vulnerable to manipulation. Just remember that and we'll be able to complete this mission successfully and without further risk to civilians."

Strong and Chapman nodded.

"That's all for now," Gavin told them. "Jim and I will pretend to continue working. We'll break for lunch, and then resume our "work" until this afternoon. Lieutenant, you keep coming in to check on us now and then, just as Gessner did. By the way, the bank also provided us with lunch, so I think we should stick with the bank's established routine."

"I'll see to it, Sir."

Jim and Gavin continued their pretend work. At 1:00, Lieutenant Chapman came in to tell them lunch was ready; he locked the door behind them as they left the room. Lt. Commander Strong joined them shortly as did the other department officers and they made desultory conversation as they ate conscious of listening ears. They were all tense, knowing that the terrorist would be calling soon.

The afternoon drew to a close. The bank clients began trickling out the door, knowing the doors would close at 4:00 pm. Jim and Gavin closed their padds, locked the door and made their way to Commander Strong's office. Jim nodded to Strong's Executive Secretary. "Please go right in, Mr. McCall, Mr. Corrigan. Ms. Gardetto is waiting for you. Will you want coffee for your meeting?"

"Thank you, but I don't think so, maybe later, depending on how long the meeting lasts," Jim answered. He and Gavin walked into the imposing office that Commander Strong was occupying. It was 3:45. It wouldn't be long now until Sonnai transferred the 50 million credits.

Lt. Chapman came in and stood at the door, his arms folded, a picture of patience. No one said a word, they just watched the big office clock ticking the seconds and minutes to 3:47.

At precisely 3:58, Commander Strong's comm beeped. "There is a very insistent client wanting to speak with you, Ms. Gardetto," said the secretary's voice.

"Thank you, Ms. Corbeil. It's 4:00 pm, so you may go home now. I'll take care of the client. You have a good evening," Strong said.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll see you in the morning. I'll transfer the call now," she said.

"This is Marie Gardetto, the Bank Manager. To whom am I speaking and how may I help you?" Strong's voice was crisp and businesslike.

A pleasant baritone voice responded. "My name is Damien Torrington. I'm one of your major depositors."

Chapman, Gavin, and Jim, all reached for their comms at the same time to do a search for the name. Gavin did a quick send of the name to Sonnai Connolly hoping he would be able to find him.

The pleasant voice turned irate as he continued. "There has been a very large deposit to my account. I am viewing it as we speak. It's for 50 million credits. However, I cannot seem to access the credits."

"May I have your account number, Mr. Torrington?"

"Is that necessary?"

"It's only necessary if you would like me to check on your account." Strong's voice sounded both neutral and uninterested.

There was a pause. "Very well." Torrington rattled the account number to her and Strong waited for a minute before speaking.

"I see the credits in your account, Mr. Torrington. Due to the very large amount of that deposit, it has been flagged as 'further paper work required.' "

"What?"

"Yes, Sir. It is a Federation Banking Commission policy to require identification on site of the account holder when the amount of the deposit is more than 5 million credits. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, Sir. However, due to illegal activities by the Orion Syndicate some years ago, there had to be some safeguards put in place. The Orion syndicate tried to launder their ill gotten credits that they acquired from their slave trade. This bank rule has been in place for a number of years." She looked a question at Gavin.

He nodded. Sonnai had taken care of that, there was now such a rule on the Bank website.

They heard some colorful cursing coming from Audrey's comm. "So what do I have to do to get my credits?"

"If you will come to the bank early tomorrow morning and bring two kinds of identification, I will be happy to take care of your problem personally. Also, Mr. Torrington, for your information, regardless, your credits would not have been released this evening. All transactions made after 3:00 pm are credited on the following business day. Be that as it may, if you come tomorrow morning it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to give you access to your account. I'm sure you will agree that this rule is in place to protect valuable and very important clients such as yourself."

"It's very inconvenient for me to travel to Bern. I live in South America. Using a transporter to get to you, will be quite expensive.

Gavin quickly sent Sonnai another comm text with that information.

"I'm very sorry, Sir. Rest assured your funds will be safe with us if you decide to wait until a more convenient time to access your account."

"No! No! Wait! Will you be in your office for a few more minutes? I must speak with the person who initiated the transfer to see if he can do something from his end?"

"Yes, I'll be in my office until 5:00. Let me give you my direct comm code, Mr. Torrington."

"I'll comm you back shortly," Torrington said and hung up.

Audrey made sure her comm was off and looked at the three men. "I think that went pretty well, don't you?"

"Yes, you did great, Audrey. I'm sure he's contacting Admiral Nogura and giving him an earful. He'll have an unpleasant surprise awaiting him; the Admiral will assure him there is nothing he can do. He'll tell him that Star Fleet and the Federation kept their side of the bargain and transferred the money to Bern and that now it's out of his hands."

They waited in tense silence, all four holding their breaths until Audrey's comm beeped.

"This Marie Gardetto speaking, how may I help you?"

"Torrington here. The other party I contacted could do nothing at his end. I will be at the Bank first thing in the morning. What time does your bank open?"

"We open at 9 am local time, Mr. Torrington. I will take care of your issue personally. Just ask my secretary for me, and she will escort you to my office."

"Very well. I'll be there promptly at 9 am."

"Goodbye, Mr. Torrington. I'll see you tomorrow," Audrey said, and closed her comm.

The four officers breathed a sigh of relief. The terrorist had taken the bait. Tomorrow morning they should be able to arrest and take him into custody.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Suffer the winter's cold wind,**

 **for it bears aloft next summer's seeds'.**

Winona woke as she usually did at 6:00 am, Iowa time. Her first thought was it was time to wake Peter up to feed the animals, then get him off to school, and get started with her day. Her second thought was that she was that this morning she was in San Francisco and she didn't have to get up as early as usual. She sighed. Her body was conditioned to wake up at 6 am no matter what. It was annoying when she was on vacation or on weekends, but she had done it for too many years and her internal alarm clock was set and there was no getting around it. She luxuriated in bed for a few more minutes, then gave up, got up, put on her robe and careful not to wake up Joanna, walked quietly into the kitchen.

She was surprised to see Leonard already at the stove and Spock sitting at the table. "Good morning. You're both up early."

"Morning, Winona. Yeah, we're getting an early start this morning. Have to send in our latest data to Vulcan and to the other hospital sites and I'm gonna' check Jocelyn real careful this morning. I hope I can wake her up by noon."

"I hope so too, Leonard. If she does wake up today, reassure her about Joanna and tell her we're all taking very good care of her."

"I will, Winona. Jocelyn will have to stay in the hospital at least a couple of more days. After that, I'm sure she'll want to head back to Georgia." He sighed. "It's gonna' be real hard saying goodbye to Baby Girl, but at least I will have had her for a few days. That's more than I usually get." He said, his lips turning downward as he went back to the stove.

Behind his back, Spock and Winona exchanged glances. Spock quirked an eyebrow and gave her a tiny nod. It didn't take Vulcan touch telepathy to read Winona's face. She was going to have a chat with Jocelyn about Leonard's parental rights and his access to Joanna, and she was determined to make her see that keeping Joanna away from Leonard was not doing either of them any good. With Leonard's career in Star Fleet, his rank, his accolades, his commendations, his medals, and the testimony of his friends and superiors, no judge in the world would countenance or honor Jocelyn's restrictions to Leonard about his times to see Joanna.

"Winona, would you like some eggs, toast and bacon?" Leonard asked wielding his spatula in her direction.

"That would be lovely, Leonard, but you don't need to cook for me, that's my job while I'm here."

"It's my pleasure. I'm sure my eggs won't be as good as yours, but they're pretty good." He smiled. "Jim seems to like them" he added. "I cook when we're on shore leave together and we have access to a stove and there's never any left."

"Jim likes everything," Winona said. "As long as it's good and there's plenty of it."

Leonard dished out the eggs, toast and bacon, put Spock's porridge on the table, then served himself and sat down.

"Ensign Root and I thought we'd take Joanna to Golden Gate Park today. What do you think Leonard? It's supposed to be a fine day, the fog will burn off early, and it will get warmer. We'll grab lunch at the park, or I'll pack a picnic lunch for us. Ensign Root said the Admiral gave her access to a small shuttle, so no public transportation and germs for us."

"I think that's fine. Fresh air and sunshine is just what she needs. It'll do her good to get out of the house and run around."

"I hope we hear from Jim and Gavin sometime today," Winona looked up and her worried glance met McCoy's. "Today's the big day. I'm sure they're well prepared, but I still worry."

"I am sure the Captain and Commander Bradford will let us know as soon as they apprehend the terrorist, Dr. Kirk." Spock said. "The Captain and the Commander are well prepared to confront the terrorist. Lt. Chapman and Lt. Commander Strong are also well trained SIS officers. I foresee no problems arising at the bank that they would not be able to handle quietly and discreetly."

McCoy nodded in agreement. "The trip to the park will be a good distraction for you, Winona. Try not to worry. I know it's hard, Spock and I have lots of experience on waiting for Jim, and I can assure you that the man knows what he's doing and he always comes out on top."

Joanna walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. McCoy's blue eyes lit up and he grinned. "'Morning, Baby Girl. Did you sleep well, sweetheart?"

"Morning, Daddy, Mr. Spock and Noni." She stopped beside him, leaned in to his side, sniffed and looked at the adults. "Somethin' smells real good and I'm hungry," she told her father.

Leonard put his arm around her enjoying the sleep warmed weight of her small body against him And laughed. "Well that's good to hear, Joanna. I'll fix you somethin' right away. Would you like some eggs, toast and bacon or oatmeal like Mr. Spock? I can put cinnamon and sugar on it like you like it," McCoy said.

"I'd like eggs and bacon daddy, and if I get hungry later I'll eat some oatmeal," she answered.

"Okay, then. Why don't you get dressed, wash your face, and brush your hair, and it'll all be ready when you get back."

"Joanna, dress warmly, darling. Ensign Root, you and I are going to Golden Gate Park later this morning." Winona smiled at the little girl.

"Oh Boy! That'll be fun!" Joanna skipped back to their room smiling happily.

The adults smiled at each other. McCoy stood and went back to the stove to make Joanna's breakfast and he finished just as she came back.

"Here you are, sweet girl," he said placing the plate in front of her and a glass of milk. "Mr. Spock and I need to get going to the hospital. I'm gonna' visit your mama and see how's she doin' this morning. I have a feeling she's much better today," he said placing a gentle hand on the soft brown curls.

Joanna smiled up at him. "I'm glad, daddy. I knew you could make her all better," she told him. "You're the best doctor in the whole world."

"Well, thank you, darlin'. I'm mighty glad you think so. Now you mind Noni and Ensign Root at the park today and have a good time. By the way, you're looking very pretty in your new clothes, Baby Girl. I'll see you later," McCoy said, bending down to kiss her.

He and Spock bid Winona goodbye, collected their comms with their notes, and headed back to the hospital. McCoy was quiet and preoccupied with thoughts of Jocelyn's prognosis. He turned to Spock. "I'll head straight to Jocelyn's room, Spock. You go ahead and send out the updates to Vulcan and to the other hospital sites. Will you check with the doctors' who are attending the new patients? I want us to keep a close eye on the viral vector protocols with newly infected patients. It should work faster than it did with our patients here who were in stasis. The new ones didn't have to go into stasis, and I'm curious to see if there is any difference in reaction time for them."

"I too, would like to know, Leonard. Perhaps I will wait for those reports before sending the updates to Vulcan."

"That's a good idea, Spock. Our data will be much more complete and useful that way."

"Are you certain you do not want me to accompany you to Ms. McCoy's room to wake her up? There is no reason the updates cannot wait for an hour instead of being sent in a few minutes," Spock said, still mindful of Jim's injunction to him to take care of McCoy.

"I'm sure, Spock. You go ahead. I'll go check on Jocelyn right now. I plan to lower the dosage of the sedatives in her line and she should wake up naturally in a couple of hours. I don't want to rush things. She's been sicker than some of the other patients and slower to respond to the viral vector."

McCoy and Spock went through the stringent security measures at the entrance of the hospital and had their identities verified once more by the scanner before entering the corridor to the labs and patients. They didn't begrudge the security protocols and were happy to comply. Until the terrorists were apprehended, everyone was at risk of a random attack. Spock went directly to the lab office and McCoy made his way to Jocelyn's room.

As McCoy entered the dimly lit room, he saw the nurse on duty. "Good Morning, Nurse."

"Good morning, Doctor. I'm just finishing taking Ms. McCoy's vital signs, and she's had her sponge bath and daily grooming already this morning. Here is her chart," she said, handing McCoy her padd.

McCoy was pleased with what he saw. The last blood test results were excellent. The Choriocytosis infection was completely gone from her blood stream and the rhino virus had also run its course. Jocelyn's color was good, her weight was stable, and the physical therapist had reported that her reflexes were normal. McCoy put on his stasis gloves and reached in through the field to check her pulse and skin elasticity by hand.

McCoy nodded to himself, pleased; he looked up at the waiting nurse. "I'm gonna' wake her up in an hour or so, nurse. Let's start removing the stasis field very slowly like we did for Joanna. Keep a very close eye on her responses. She should start to move and maybe even vocalize a little as the stasis field is lowered. I'm also gonna' keep her very mildly sedated. We don't want her to wake up agitated as well as disoriented. She won't remember much of what happened to her before she was admitted and will wonder where she is. She'll be worried about Joanna, so I want you to speak to her as she starts to wake up. Tell her who you are, where she is, reassure her that Joanna is fine, and fill her in with a little bit of what's happened. You can tell her that I'm here and Joanna is with me. I'll come back in an hour to check on things."

"Yes, Doctor."

McCoy went to the stasis field computer and put in the parameters in order to lower the field. It had to be a slow process. The human body was not meant to be totally immobile for any length of time, and that's why feeding, physical therapy, and touch protocols had to be rigidly implemented for patients who were placed in stasis.

He sighed. Jocelyn would be fine; he was sure of it. She would fully recover, but he was not looking forward to her antagonism and the disdain that she usually showed toward him. He doubted that even saving her life, would change her combative dynamics. He knew that it angered Jim and that he didn't agree with McCoy's choice to not confront Jocelyn and call her out on her behavior. He didn't at all agree with McCoy's stance; he thought McCoy should fight for his parental rights, that it was important for Joanna's welfare that she know her father wanted to see more of her. In his heart McCoy knew that Jim was right; he was confident that he could re-negotiate his custody agreement and the court would side with his petition. He was not the same man now that he had been during and immediately after their divorce. He was not broken any more. He had made his way in Star Fleet; he had status now, he had good friends, he made a good salary, and he had the respect and admiration of his peers. Jim would be happy to testify on his behalf. His position as Captain of the Federation Flag Ship made him a force to be reckoned with. Others would also be willing to testify on his behalf; Winona, Spock, Uhura, Chapel, Sulu, Chekov and Gavin. Hell, even Nogura would testify on his behalf if McCoy asked him to.

McCoy recalled Jim's words. "Fight for her, Bones. That child needs to know that you want her, want to spend time with her. I know you don't want her to see Jocelyn in a bad light, but it's not right that Jocelyn puts you in a bad light and keeps her from you and that you don't fight her about it. Right now Joanna is little, and she adores you. She doesn't understand a lot of your and Jocelyn's dynamics, but when she's older all she'll see is that you didn't fight to get to see her more." McCoy had been thinking about those words since Jim had broken the news to him about Joanna's illness. It seemed that the universe was giving him a second chance and his mind was made up now; he would fight Jocelyn if he had to for more time with Joanna.

The doctor made his way to the lab office and found Spock on the comm. He flipped it closed as McCoy entered the room. "I have sent our reports to Vulcan and to the other patient sites, Leonard. The doctor at the new patient site reported that they have almost completely recovered. It seems that the speed of intervention with the viral vector does correlate with a speedier recovery. I am very gratified by the new results and have shared them with the Vulcan healers."

"Thanks for doin' that, Spock. Jocelyn's doin' very well. I've started to lower the stasis field and she'll be awake within the hour. We can add her stats later; we need to include the rhino virus complication in the new data packet in case other patients come in with a cold."

Spock nodded and added the note in his padd. McCoy went to the main lab computer and put in his notes from Jocelyn's latest test results, the nurse and physical therapist reports and his own observations. After he finished he turned to Spock and fiddled with his comm.

"Wish we'd hear from Jim or Gavin," he said.

Spock said. "I do not expect a report from them until after they speak with the Admiral."

McCoy couldn't help but worry about Jim. It was his job to worry, but aside from that he knew Jim's penchant for trouble. He wouldn't hesitate to throw himself into the middle of it if things went belly up. McCoy wouldn't feel at ease until they heard from the team.

His comm beeped and he flipped it open. "McCoy here."

"Dr. McCoy, this is Anna Rios, Ms. McCoy's nurse. You asked me to let you know when she woke up. She's awake now; still a little groggy, but wide awake. I've disengaged the stasis field completely now. Her vital signs are good…her blood pressure is a bit elevated, but I believe it's because she's a little anxious about her daughter. I've reassured her, but she's asking for you, Doctor McCoy."

"I'll be right there, Nurse Rios. Thank you."

Spock raised an eyebrow at him. "I will accompany you, Leonard, if you do not object. I, too, wish to observe how Ms. McCoy is responding."

Leonard snorted and gave him a skeptical look. He knew an over protective Vulcan when he saw one, but what the hell, if Spock wanted to come along it was fine with him. He could use a wingman during this first interaction with Jocelyn. He knew that if Jim had been here, he wouldn't have been able to pry him off his shoulder. Spock would do. Yes indeed, Spock would do just fine.

They walked down the corridor to Jocelyn's room, Spock close beside Leonard, shoulder to shoulder, brushing as they walked. McCoy opened the door to Jocelyn's room. Her bed was in the recline position and she was half sitting, half reclining in the bed. Her eyes went immediately to the door. "Hello, Leonard," she said, and smiled at McCoy.


	21. Chapter 21

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 21**

" **Attack him where he is unprepared,**

 **appear where you are not expected."**

 **The Art of War**

At six a.m. Jim and Gavin waited for Lt. Commander Strong and Lt. Chapman to arrive to their hotel rooms. Gavin had called the meeting to go over last minute details before Torrington showed up to the bank at 9 am.

Jim opened the door and ushered in the two officers. They were already dressed for bank business. Gavin poured them all a cup of coffee and they sat down with their padds.

"Jim and I want to go over a few things before you leave for the bank. I anticipate that Torrington will arrive exactly at 9 am when the bank opens. Lt. Chapman, I want you to introduce yourself and escort Torrington to Audrey's office and stay there. You can say you've been assigned to him by Ms. Gardetto to help expedite his difficulties; that due to the large deposit, he is getting special service and attention."

Jim brought out his phaser and put it on the table. "I want you to carry your phasers today, hidden of course, but on you. We're not sure if Torrington will be armed or not, but we'll take no chances. Commander Bradford and I will also be armed and we'll have stasis cuffs with us. He'll be cuffed immediately when we arrest him."

Gavin nodded. "There shouldn't be too many people at the bank at that hour, and your office is sound proof, Audrey, so we hope the clients will be unaware of what's happening. Jim and I will go into your office as at 8:45 and wait there until Lt. Chapman escorts Torrington in and then we'll arrest him immediately. Let's hope it goes down without a problem. Any questions?"

Strong and Chapman shook their heads. "We're ready, sir," Audrey said.

"One more thing," Gavin added. "Both of you will remain at the bank until the end of the day tomorrow. The Banking Commission will send the real Bank Manager and Assistant Manager the following morning. At the end of the day tomorrow, tell the employees that yours was a temporary assignment until the two new permanent people were hired. We don't want to panic anyone about their assets and have a run on the bank." He looked down at his notes. "I think that's all. Good luck today, I have full confidence that things will go well. We're as prepared as possible. Jim and I will be there by 8:15 a.m., right after you two arrive."

Strong and Chapman left to go to the bank, and Jim and Gavin called room service for breakfast. It was going to be a very long day and it would be best to start with a good meal. After they ate, Jim commed the Admiral's office and reported in. Ensign Torres answered immediately.

"Captain, the Admiral is not in right now. He finally went home last night very late, he left me a message that he'd be in by 9 a.m. Lt. Connolly stayed with him for a time then went back to his lodgings. He'll be back this morning at the same time as the Admiral."

"That's fine, Ensign. Just give him the message that we're ready to complete the mission. We'll report in after the terrorist is apprehended. After the arrest we'll need a direct beam out from Lt. Commander's Strong's office here at the bank to New York and then again directly to San Francisco. Torrington will be cuffed, but he's still dangerous. The beam out procedure has to be very secret, Ensign, we certainly don't want to alert the rest of the terrorist cell. I'm sending you the coordinates for this office immediately and you can handle the rest of it. We'll need to interrogate him in San Francisco; please advise the Admiral as soon as he comes in. Also, Lt. Connolly will be able to recover the 50 million credits as soon as the arrest is made. I know that'll relieve the Admiral's mind considerably."

"Aye, Sir. I'll take care of those arrangements immediately and I'll text you and Commander Bradford the confirmations for each beam in point. Good luck, sir. "

"Thank you, Ensign. Kirk out."

"It's time to go Jim." Gavin gave Jim a critical look to be sure his mustache, glasses, and hair color disguise still looked good. Their suits had been pressed by the hotel staff and they looked crisp and professional. Once more they decided to walk to the bank to take advantage of the beautiful crisp weather enjoyed by the Bern citizens.

The walk to the bank was pleasant, and the bank guard let them in the front doors with a nod and pleasant smile. Gavin nodded to Chapman, but they didn't stop. He and Jim settled in the same office, cracked the door so they could have clear sight to the front door entrance in case Torrington showed up a little early. At 8:45 they walked into Audrey's office and took their places behind the door. When the door opened they would be hidden. It was time for the bank clerks and Audrey's executive secretary come in to start their day.

Jim kept a close eye on his chronometer. He knew that promptly at 9 a.m. the front doors would be unlocked and opened by the guard. The Swiss were notoriously punctual.

At exactly 9 a.m., Lt. Chapman, out in the main lobby, saw a man walk up to the door. The guard opened them for him and he walked in and stood just inside the entrance. Chapman saw he was very tall, well built with broad shoulders and a slim torso, clean shaven, and with refined features. He was an imposing looking man with a natural air of command and self-assurance that seemed a part of him, and not just assumed for a role he was playing. He was well dressed in a perfectly tailored charcoal grey suit and he wore a dazzlingly white shirt with a grey and blue striped tie. He stood waiting until Lt. Chapman came up to him _. A man used to be waited on and obeyed_ , thought Chapman. _Well, that's going to come to an unexpected and sudden end._

"May I help you, sir?"

"My name is Damien Torrington; I have an appointment with the Bank Manager, Ms. Gardetto."

"Ah, yes, of course, Mr. Torrington. I'm Paul McClain, Ms. Gardetto's assistant. Please come with me, sir, Ms. Gardetto is expecting you in her office. She's explained the difficulties with your account to me, and I'm sure we can expedite your situation. "

"I certainly hope so, Mr. McClain. This whole situation has been very inconvenient for me."

"I'm sure it has, Mr. Torrington. However, these rules are not ours, they are imposed on us by the Federation Banking Commission, and so it's really out of our hands. Please come this way, sir."

Lt. Chapman led him to 'Ms. Gardetto's' office door and knocked lightly.

"Come in," came Audrey's pleasant voice.

Lt. Chapman came in first, opened the door wide, and ushered Torrington in to stand at the front of Audrey's large desk. She stood as they came in.

"Ms. Gardetto, this is Mr. Torrington. I believe you were expecting him?"

"Yes, I was indeed expecting you, Mr. Torrington, and may I say your presence gives me a great deal of personal pleasure." She looked coldly at Torrington.

Jim and Gavin came up silently behind Torrington. Gavin grabbed both his arms in a sudden unyielding grip and pulled them tightly behind Torrington. Jim quickly put the stasis cuffs around his wrists then bent down to put larger cuffs around his ankles.

Everything happened so fast, Torrington didn't even have a chance to move. His face went rigid with shock and surprise as he felt his confinement.

"What's the meaning of this? Let me go!" He struggled futility against the stasis cuffs, his face flushing red with fury, the mask of gentility slipping rapidly away. "I don't understand this. Let me go!" He growled, baring his teeth.

"Damien Torrington," Gavin said. "You are under arrest for suspicion of the following high crimes against the Federation: terrorism, attempted murder of Federation citizens, attempted extortion of Admiral Nogura, the Commander in Chief of Star Fleet, attempted theft, and further threats of terroristic acts against Federation citizens. There may be further charges brought against you once you have been arraigned. You have the right to remain silent, but I must inform you that under Federation Law 1708.3, which deals with terroristic threats and acts perpetrated against the Federation, your rights to an attorney and bail, will be held in abeyance for 48 hours until you have been interrogated by Star Fleet agents."

Torrington stopped his struggling. "You think you're all so smart. You'll get no information from me," he sneered. "I have made contingency plans in case of my death or imprisonment. There are many others eager and willing to take my place, and no matter what you do, I'll never betray them or give you the information that you'll need to find them." He looked contemptuously at the four Star Fleet officers.

Gavin and the others ignored his outburst. Jim opened his communicator. "Kirk to Ensign Torres."

"Ensign Torres here."

"Commander Bradford and I have the prisoner in hand, Ensign. Please let Admiral Nogura and Lt. Connolly know. The 50 million credits are safe and you may retrieve them now. Three to beam out to New York at my one minute mark."

"Aye, Captain. One minute and counting," replied Torres.

They stood waiting for the beam out. Jim tore off his mustache with relief and took off his fake glasses. It was over! Torrington was captured.

Gavin smiled grimly at Strong and Chapman. "Good work everyone! Audrey, Paul, I'll brief you this evening after we finish his interrogation and I'll see you back in San Francisco day after tomorrow."

The silver whine of the transporter took them. They reappeared at the New York Star Fleet main transporter room, which had been emptied of everyone except the transporter chief and two burly well-armed Security officers in body armor. They carried phaser rifles and had additional phasers clipped to their belt. The two officers flanked them immediately. Jim and Gavin looked at each other. Obviously the Admiral was taking no chances.

Gavin approached the transporter chief. "We'll need beam out to the main Star Fleet transporter station," he told him.

"Yes Commander. I already have orders to that effect. The San Francisco station is waiting for you; it's been cleared of all personnel and there are two more security officers waiting for you."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. We're ready to go," Gavin told him. They stepped up to the transporter pad and they dematerialized. When the transporter released them Jim, Gavin, and Torrington were inside the main Star Fleet transporter station. Immediately two large, burley officers also with phaser rifles and body armor, presented their credentials to Gavin.

"We are to escort you all to the ST main interrogation room, Commander. Admiral Nogura will meet you there."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Please escort the prisoner, and Captain Kirk and I will follow behind you."

"Aye, Sir."

The two officers each grabbed Torrington by the upper arms and step marched him quickly out of the room and down a long deserted corridor. They stopped in front of a large plain door. One of the Security officers pressed his thumb print to the sensor and it opened. They stepped inside the door and escorted Torrington into a smaller room. There was nothing in the room except for one large chair. They sat Torrington down, and one of the officers uncuffed his ankles and recuffed each ankle to the chair legs. Torrington arms remained behind his back.

Gavin looked him over critically. "I believe it'll be better for his wrists to be cuffed to the chair arms, Lieutenant. They look sturdy enough to hold him immobile."

"Aye, Sir." One of the men uncuffed his wrists and bound him to the side arms of the chair.

Torrington wriggled in his seat. "I demand to see an attorney. This is outrageous. All Federation citizens are entitled to an attorney if they're arrested on any charge." He sneered at them. "You won't find out anything from me, and when I don't report in to my colleagues, there will be consequences you won't like. They'll look for me and when they don't find me, there'll be reprisals. They know I was going to the bank to retrieve the 50 million."

Jim grinned tightly. "You will have no attorney until after your interrogation, and," Jim continued grimly, "what your colleagues will discover, should they inquire about you at the bank, is that you kept your appointment with Ms. Gardetto, retrieved the 50 million and left the bank. No one knows where you went after that. I'm very sure your colleagues will not be happy to hear that."

Torrington's face paled. "They know I would never betray them. I'm their leader, and have been for a long time. They trust me."

Gavin snorted. "You think that they won't think you stole the 50 million? That's a lot of temptation, and if you've disappeared, they'll think the worse; anyone would." His communicator beeped and he looked at the message. "The Admiral is here."

"Watch him like a hawk, "Gavin told the two security officers. "Captain Kirk and I will be right outside with Admiral Nogura."

The Admiral and Ensign Torres were waiting outside the interrogation room looking through the one way glass.

"Excellent work, Captain, Commander! Captain, your plan worked beautifully," Nogura told Jim.

"Thank you, Admiral."

"By the way, Lt. Connolly has recovered the 50 million, which is a great relief, I can assure you. Now if we can get the location of the terrorist cell and the names of all its members, we can arrest them and put this behind us. Who is going to do the interrogation?"

"I will, Admiral." Gavin sighed. He wasn't looking forward to this part of his job. He was sure that they'd get nothing from Torrington during the interrogation. There were drugs that could be used, but he doubted that even the truth drugs would break the terrorist. There were ways to circumvent the drugs, and he was sure Torrington had been well trained. They would try them anyway and hope for the best.

The Admiral looked at him. "You don't think he'll break do you, Commander?"

"No I don't, Sir."

"We'll let him stew in there for a while and let's see if we can come up with something that will work on him, "Nogura said. He turned to Jim. "Captain, Ensign Torres has a message for you."

"Captain," Torres nodded. "Dr. McCoy reported that Ms. McCoy is awake now and doing well. He and Commander Spock are with her now. Also, he said the new patients are also doing very well. The viral vector is working faster on the three newer infected patients."

"Thank you, Ensign, that's great news." Jim felt relief about Jocelyn, more for Joanna's sake than for Bones. Jocelyn had been nothing but difficult with Bones since their divorce.

He turned to the Admiral. "Admiral, I have an idea how we might get some information from Torrington. May we speak somewhere in private? This may be a little tricky to implement."

They moved out of the interrogation rooms and into a small office at the entrance of the area. There were chairs and a small desk there and the Admiral ushered them in to sit down.

"Go ahead, Captain," Nogura said.

"Please understand that we'll need Commander's Spock's cooperation for this because I don't believe normal interrogation techniques are going to work with Torrington."

"I agree with the Captain, sir," Gavin said.

"So what do you suggest?"

"I want us to threaten him with a Vulcan mind meld. Of course, we know that Mr. Spock would never meld with anyone without consent, nor would he ever force a meld with anyone; that's considered both a crime, and a deep violation of Vulcan principals. I think that if we have Gavin conduct the first interrogation and we don't get anything from Torrington, I'd like for Mr. Spock to be present for the second interrogation. We tell Torrington that we have ways of extracting the information we need. We tell him that a forced meld is dangerous and painful and that no one can hide the truth in a meld; he'll know those statements are true. There are certainly enough urban myths about Vulcan mind melds to add weight to what we tell him. I know Spock; he won't tell a lie, but I believe that just his presence will do the trick. In the past, he's been willing to bend his Vulcan principals just a little and use subterfuge for the success of a mission."

Jim waited for the Admiral to comment.

"I like the idea, Captain, but do you think Mr. Spock will agree? I don't want to step on any Vulcan taboos. If we did that, I would hear from T'Pau faster than warp speed, and I don't mind admitting to you that that woman scares me. I'd rather face Klingons than incur T'Pau's wrath."

Jim shuddered, remembering his own interactions with the formidable Vulcan Elder. "I totally agree with you, Admiral. I'll speak with Mr. Spock as soon as possible and get his thoughts about this. Meanwhile, I think we should let Torrington stew for a while before Commander Bradford begins his interrogation."

Gavin nodded. "I agree."

"I'm anxious to speak with Mr. Spock about this, sir. I'd also like to speak with Dr. McCoy about Ms. McCoy's status." Jim looked at the Admiral, waiting silently for his dismissal.

"Go ahead, Captain, you're dismissed until you speak with Mr. Spock. Torrington isn't going anywhere. Again, my thanks to you and Commander Bradford on the success of this very difficult mission."

"Thank you, sir," and Jim strode rapidly out of the office to find Spock and Bones.


	22. Chapter 22

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 22**

" **Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."**

 **The Art of War**

Leonard stood at the door and looked soberly at his ex-wife. Her smile faltered and turned a little defiant. "Jocelyn, it's good to see you awake. How're you feelin'?" McCoy asked walking to her bio bed.

"As well as can be expected, I suppose, after almost dying; that's what Nurse Rios said."

"Yeah, you had a close call, so did Joanna, but you're on the mend now. I'm gonna' check you over right now just to be sure. Nurse Rios," Leonard motioned to her. "We'll draw blood and check all her vitals before givin' her anything to eat."

"Yes, doctor."

Jocelyn opened her mouth to say something, but Leonard raised a hand. "Later, Jocelyn, whatever you have to say can wait. Right now this is more important."

McCoy was thorough in his examination. He gave the blood sample to the nurse and she put it in the portable scanner while McCoy ran the rest of his tests on her lungs, heart and muscle responses. The scanner beeped with the results.

"Spock, it looks like the virus is totally eradicated from her blood stream. Let's log it in as a cure and you can send the report on to Vulcan."

He looked at his ex-wife. "You'll be able to leave the hospital in a couple of days, Jocelyn. Because of complications when you contracted the Choriocytosis, we'll have to monitor you for another 48 hours to be sure you're completely well."

McCoy looked at the nurse. "Why don't you take a break now, nurse? Mr. Spock and I will be here for a while. I'll call you when we're finished."

"Of course, Dr. McCoy. I'll be at the ward desk if you need me."

The three of them were silent until the door closed behind her.

"So," Jocelyn drawled. "I understand that Joanna and I owe our lives to you, Leonard. I do thank you for that, especially for my daughter's life. Nurse Rios told me Joanna is staying with you and that she's doing fine. Is this true?"

"Yeah, _our_ daughter is doing great; she's fully recovered. Winona Kirk came for a few days and when she heard about Joanna, she offered to take care of her while I'm working. She was happy to get the chance to see Jim and she offered to stay on for a few days to help me with baby girl." McCoy knew he was stretching the truth a little, but he'd had a lot of experience with Jocelyn's animosity toward anyone that McCoy was close to. It had been a miracle that Jim had been able to talk her into letting Joanna visit him at the Kirk farm over the Christmas holidays. **1** He still didn't know what hoops Jim had jumped through to pull off the miracle.

Jocelyn frowned. "Well don't get too comfortable with the situation, Leonard. Joanna and I will be leaving as soon as I get out of here." Her tone was combative.

"As I said, Jocelyn, you'll have to stay in the hospital at least a couple of more days. You were mighty sick, much sicker than Joanna. You had serious complications and you've just been brought out of stasis and your body is very weak. The viral vector we used to fight the Choriocytosis was compromised because you already had a rhino virus in your blood stream, so it took much longer for the vector to work."

"Yes, Nurse Rios told me." She looked at McCoy, her gray eyes now suddenly cold. "Don't think that this is going to change things between us, Leonard, or that I'd be fool enough to modify your custody agreement out of some misplaced sense of gratitude."

McCoy sighed wearily. He was sick of Jocelyn's contentious attitude; there really was no chance that Jocelyn would ever change her feelings toward him. He felt rather than saw Spock move closer and slightly in front of him in a protective stance.

"Jocelyn," McCoy said. "I've put up with your hostility and antagonism long enough. Your bitterness toward me seems to have gotten worse instead of better. I'm putting my cards on the table. I'm gonna' ask you for a change in our custody agreement so I can see Joanna more often, see her anytime I have leave or the ship comes to Earth." He held up his hand, when Jocelyn made to interrupt. "Hear me out. We can do this nicely or we can do it the hard way and I'll take you to court to petition the change. I haven't wanted to embroil Joanna in our mess, but enough is enough. You have no right to keep me from my child."

Jocelyn laughed. "Go ahead and take me to court, Leonard, because I'm not going to change anything. I know all the judges in Savanna and Atlanta, they've all been family friends forever; they'll always side with me." She looked at him triumphantly.

Spock moved closer to Jocelyn's bed, his voice calm and measured as he spoke. "I believe that they will not, Ms. McCoy and I also believe you will need to reevaluate and change your custody agreement. Dr. McCoy has proven to be a hero of the Federation many times over during his service on the _Enterprise_. He has received commendations and medals for his research and scientific publications as well as for his medical service; he has saved many lives both on the ship and on many planets across the quadrant. All of us, the command crew, his Sick Bay staff, and most especially Captain Kirk, will testify on his behalf about his character and his devotion to Joanna. I can assure you that Captain Kirk's testimony alone will carry tremendous weight." He paused. "Because of Dr. McCoy's work here at STM, finding a cure for the Choriocytosis virus which is lethal to Vulcans, Admiral Nogura, Ambassador Sarek, and all of the Vulcan healers at the Vulcan Science Academy will be more than happy to testify on his behalf, not to mention the patients who have received his treatment and are now cured."

He looked at Jocelyn's shocked face. "So, Ms. McCoy," he continued calmly, "I suggest you reconsider your highly illogical stance about the custody agreement, because I can assure you that if you do go to court to testify against Dr. McCoy, not only will your reputation suffer but you will be made to look very foolish indeed."

"Well said, Mr. Spock." A voice from the doorway said. Jim was there leaning casually against the door frame with his arms crossed across his chest. His body looked relaxed, but there was a rigid set to his broad shoulders.

Spock and McCoy turned.

"Jim! You're back!" McCoy's delighted voice matched the big grin on his face.

"Yeah Bones, I'm back," Jim said, smiling, never taking his eyes off of Jocelyn's startled face. He spoke to his First Officer, "Mr. Spock, we have need of you to complete this mission."

"Of course, Captain. I'm at your disposal."

"Jocelyn, I'm happy to see that you're on the road to a full recovery, thanks to Bones and Mr. Spock here." Jim's hazel eyes were hard as he looked at her, daring her to say something negative.

"Hello, Captain Kirk…Jim." said Jocelyn. "Yes I'm feeling much better….thanks to Leonard of course." Her voice had noticeably softened and now held a resigned edge to it.

Jim nodded. "Glad to hear it." Jocelyn, he knew, was no fool. She was highly intelligent and had taken note of what Spock said and was rapidly reevaluating her options. His shoulders relaxed as he walked over to McCoy to put a gentle hand on his shoulder; his eyes were soft now as he looked at his friend. "We've almost completed the mission, Bones, but we also need your assistance." He stood close to Leonard.

"Sure, Jim. Let me buzz Nurse Rios and I'll be right with you." He turned to Jocelyn. "Joanna's been askin' for you, Joss. I'll make arrangements for her to visit. I'm sure Winona will be happy to bring her if I'm tied up or I'll bring her when I'm free."

Jocelyn nodded, as she took in the united front of the three men standing close together. "Thank you, Leonard. I'm anxious to see her." There was a definite change in her tone; it was far less contentious and more conciliatory.

"I'll be in later then," Leonard said, as Nurse Rios walked in.

The three men walked out of the room. "Thank you, Spock. I appreciate the help. I was about to lose my temper," Leonard said softly.

"That was evident by your words and demeanor, Doctor, so it was only logical for me to speak and prevent such an unseemly reaction," Spock replied tranquilly.

Jim snorted as McCoy threw Spock an irritated glance. "Why you green bloodied hobgoblin, there was no way for you to know I was gonna' go off on Jocelyn."

"On the contrary, Doctor. Your complexion was turning a distinct shade of red."

"Gentlemen," Jim cautioned, "Enough. The Admiral is waiting for us and I want to fill you in on what's happened." He glanced around; the hallway was empty. In a low voice he told Bones and Spock about the arrest of the terrorist and how he was refusing to give them any information on his compatriots or the location of the terrorist cell.

Glancing at Spock, Jim stopped walking and leaned his tired body against the wall. The other two stepped closer. Jim looked at Spock, regret in his eyes as he spoke softly. "Spock, you're not going to like this next part, and I wouldn't ask it of you, except that it's imperative that we find and arrest the rest of the terrorist cell members. Once they find out about Torrington's arrest, there may be reprisals and more innocent people could be hurt or killed."

Spock nodded. "I fully understand, Captain. What is it that you wish me to do?"

Jim told them his plan to get Torrington to reveal the terrorist names and the location of their headquarters.

"Jim! That's a hell of a thing; to use Spock like that." McCoy's blue eyes flashed angrily.

"I know, Bones, and I wouldn't ask if I felt there was another option."

"Dr. McCoy, Captain. I am not particularly troubled about the deception. It is no different than playing a role as we have all done during several of our missions. It is not as if I were actually going to force a mind meld. I will do as you ask, Jim."

Jim's hazel eyes smiled gratefully into the dark one. "Thank you, Spock. Let's go check in with Gavin. He was going to start the interrogation, maybe he's found out something."

They walked back into the interrogation room. The Admiral and Ensign Torres were standing in front of the one way glass watching Gavin. The two security men who had been guarding Torrington were gone. This interrogation was not to be witnessed by anyone except the four men looking through the glass.

The Admiral shifted his glance to them as they entered. "Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock." He threw an inquiring look at Jim.

"Mr. Spock is willing to help with the interrogation, sir."

'Thank you, Mr. Spock. Commander Bradford has already begun. He probably won't learn anything, but I think it would be helpful if we all watched. If he is unsuccessful, we will try Captain Kirk's idea."

"Doctor, if you see or notice anything of note in Torrington's body language or responses please don't hesitate to tell us. At this point, anything might be helpful."

"Of course, Admiral." McCoy stepped forward to the glass window to get a better view of Torrington. It was, after all, the first time that he had seen the man. The Admiral flipped a switch on the side of the window and they heard Gavin's voice, quiet, patient and unhurried, asking his questions as if he had all the time in the world to get what he needed from Torrington.

The four men focused on Torrington's facial expressions and body language. He was, Jim thought, well trained and well versed in the art of stillness. His face seldom changed expression, his body relaxed and immobile in spite of the stasis cuffs restraining him. His responses to Gavin's questions varied from saying nothing, to nonsense responses. His voice never varied in cadence or tone. It was if he had gone deep in his mind and acquired a new persona just for this purpose. There was nothing of the belligerent and angry man he and Gavin had arrested. After almost two hours of interrogation, Gavin got up and came out of the room.

He shook his head. "Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy," he nodded. "He's not going to tell us anything," he told them. "I want to try a truth drug next." He looked inquiringly at the Admiral and the Admiral looked at McCoy.

"Your opinion, Doctor?"

"Looks to me that he's highly trained in resistin' interrogation techniques," McCoy said. "You can try one of the newer truth drugs and see what happens, but I doubt if it'll work. I can't say for sure, but from what I've observed, Torrington has disassociated his psyche from the events here. What he's doin', what he's been trained to do, is similar to a mental illness known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's a copin' mechanism - the person literally dissociates himself from a situation or experience that's too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his conscious self. In this case he's disassociated from the arrest and interrogation. While in this state, his memories of his terrorist cell may be totally suppressed. It's an unusual coping technique, but it seems to be effective."

Gavin nodded. "I could see when his face changed. I'll try the drug and see what happens, but we may have need of you after all, Mr. Spock."

"I am at your disposal, Commander Bradford." Spock looked at Torrington, his eyebrow raised. "This is a most fascinating phenomenon."

McCoy snorted. "Nothin' facinatin' about it, Spock. The man's nothing but a murderer and a psychopath."

Ensign Torres brought out a small box with a hypo already filled and gave it to Gavin. "I have the drug ready for you, Commander."

"What are you usin' Gavin?" McCoy looked curiously at the hypo.

"It's an intermediate acting hypnotic drug, a new and improved form of the old drug benzodiazepine. We've had very little opportunities to try it at the agency. Federation courts have only approved its use in extreme cases such as this one, and its effectiveness hasn't been tested among different species, but it's all we've got." He looked at the Admiral. "It seems likely that any individual who can withstand ordinary intensive interrogation can hold out in narcosis, so I'm not optimistic, Admiral. From the little we know about these drugs, the best defense against narco-interrogation is foreknowledge of the process and the limitations of the drug, which I'm sure is the case with Torrington."

He palmed the hypo and went back to the interrogation room. Torrington looked up at the hypo without interest.

"If that's what I think it is, Commander, you're wasting your time," he told Gavin, in the same monotone voice he'd used before.

"Maybe," Gavin said, "but I'm going to try it anyway." He pressed the hypo to Torrington's carotid artery and waited.

The drug began to work quickly as was evident by the way Torrington's face relaxed further. Gavin placed his hand on his carotid artery. The beat was slow but steady. No bad reaction to the drug then. He lifted Torrington's chin and looked into the glazed eyes. There was no recognition in his eyes and no hostile reaction.

Gavin brought a chair and sat directly in front of the terrorist to begin his questioning. He asked his questions one by one in a calm controlled voice and waited for a response. Torrington's answers were slurred and nonsensical and even when Gavin went back to repeat his questions again, beginning with the simple ones _: What is your name? How old are you? Where do you live?_ Torrington's responses were no different from the first time; they still made no sense. Gavin was patient and consistent, but after an hour, he turned back to look at the glass window. He shook his head at the men on the other side and rose from the chair.

"I'm not getting anywhere, sir," he said, coming out of the interrogation room. "I'll keep trying until the benzodiazepine leaves his system, but I doubt if he'll break. What do you think, Leonard?"

"I agree with you, Gavin. You're not gonna' break him with the tools in your arsenal. He's spoutin' nonsense, which means he's trained to be resistant to the drugs."

Jim turned to Spock. "I think it going to be up to you, Spock. If we can make him believe that you'll force a mind meld, he may decide to talk. I'll prep him before you go in, describing the consequences of a forced meld and the danger to his sanity and memory."

Spock nodded." How long before we can go in?" he asked Gavin.

"It will be another hour at least before the drugs leave his system. I'd like Dr. McCoy to check him before Jim talks to him. I want him fully aware, rational and able to understand what will happen if he resists the mind meld."

When Gavin noted Torrington's face become alert again, he nodded at McCoy. The doctor, medical kit in hand, opened the door and went in to Torrington.

"My name is Dr. Leonard McCoy. I'm gonna' check you over, Mr. Torrington. We want you in perfect health for the next part of your interrogation."

"Why? Are you going to torture me? It won't get you anywhere," Torrington sneered at McCoy.

"The Federation doesn't believe in torture, sir." McCoy's gentle hands checked him over carefully, his tricorder running over the man's torso, face, and head. "There are other ways to get a man to talk, with or without the suspect's cooperation."

"Don't be too sure of that, Doctor, you can throw whatever you want at me, I'm not going to tell you a thing." Torrington's gray eyes met his, his face smug.

"Oh, I'm damned sure, Mr. Torrington. I've seen this done before," McCoy said. "It's not pretty, that's for sure, but its fullproof."

"You've seen what done before, Doctor?"

McCoy put his tricorder away and looked at the glass. He nodded. The door opened and Jim came in. McCoy looked at Torrington. "I'll check you again once they're finished." He sighed dramatically. "Good luck, Mr. Torrington, you're gonna' need it."

"Ah," said Torrington to Jim. "My other arresting officer. Are you the next person that will try to break me?"

"Me?" Jim laughed. "No, not me. I'm a Star Fleet Captain, not an SIS agent. No, Mr. Torrington, I'm here to tell you that the next person you'll meet is Mr. Spock, a Vulcan officer under my command."

Torrington's eyes widened.

"I see you're familiar with Vulcans," said Jim. "Then you must also know about a Vulcan telepathic technique known as a mind meld." Jim didn't miss Torrington's slight flinch. "Admiral Nogura has authorized Mr. Spock to probe your mind in a Vulcan mind meld; it will happen with or without your consent. The greater good and all that," Jim added. "I urge you to cooperate, Mr. Torrington. I'm sure you've heard that a Vulcan mind meld can rip any knowledge or memory from your mind. There is nowhere to hide in a meld. It will be much easier on you if you don't try to resist. If you do resist, we cannot guarantee your sanity or that your short term or long term memory will remain intact. In fact, if you resist the meld we cannot guarantee that you'll be able to function at all afterward. A vegetative state is not unheard of."

Torrington turned deathly pale and he began to struggle in the chair. "No! You can't do that! It's against Federation Law. I want my attorney. I'm entitled to an attorney."

Jim looked at him soberly, his hazel eyes cold. "How ironic that you say that, Mr. Torrington, after what you and your friends did to innocent people; that too was also against Federation Law. You'll find no sympathy from anyone here."

Jim nodded to the window and Spock came in the door. He stood and looked dispassionately down at the now wildly struggling Torrington. The terrorist's eyes were wide and desperate with fear at the sight of the Vulcan. He struggled furiously. "No! You can't do this! It's illegal. I want my attorney! No! Stop!" he yelled as Spock approached him. "Leave me alone!" He thrashed around in the chair, his face white and terrified.

"Calm yourself, Mr. Torrington." Spock's soft baritone voice was gentle. "If you continue to resist and do not tell us what we need to know I will have no choice." He reached out a hand and placed it on Torrington's forehead; the man tried to shift away from the warm hand, thrashing fiercely.

Spock leaned in and looked into Torrington's eyes. 'Listen to me carefully, Mr. Torrington. Ordinarily I would not countenance doing a forced meld on any sentient being. However, in this case I concur with the Captain and the Admiral. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one.''

* * *

1 **See 'A Riverside Christmas Mystery"**


	23. Chapter 23

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 23**

" **He will win who, prepared himself,**

 **waits to take the enemy unprepared."**

 **"The Art of War"**

 **Sun Tzu**

Winona walked down the hospital corridor on her way to Jocelyn's room. Leonard had commed her at the park to ask if she and Ensign Root would bring Joanna to the hospital for a short visit with her mother. After a quick lunch, they had packed up the picnic basket and brought the excited Joanna to SFM. They'd had no problems with security; Leonard had notified the guards and Ensign Root's credentials and Winona's own had ushered them right through to the patient wing.

Joyce had offered to take Joanna to the gift shop to pick out something nice for her mother, and Winona saw this as an opportunity to speak privately with Jocelyn so she'd sent them along and walked by herself to the hospital room. She didn't know yet what she was going to say to Jocelyn, but she knew the words would come to her. For Leonard's and Joanna's sake, she hoped Jocelyn would be reasonable. She reached the room, saw that the door was very slightly ajar and stopped. She could hear Jocelyn's irate voice clearly. Winona stood at the door, not wanting to interrupt what was obviously a comm call. Jocelyn's voice was so loud that Winona had no trouble hearing the conversation.

"I do understand, Judge Levine, but I'm perfectly happy with the present custody agreement that Leonard and I have. I don't want to change it or give him more access to Joanna, but he told me that if I didn't agree to his request that he'd take me to court and petition for a change. The Vulcan First Officer told me there was no doubt he would win the petition."

Winona breathed in very quietly. She was eavesdropping, but she didn't move away or feel guilty about it. She wanted to hear more.

Jocelyn's angry voice continued. "So what you're saying, Judge, is that if Leonard does take me to court it's certain that I'd lose?" Her angry question was followed by silence as Jocelyn listened to whatever the Judge was saying. "I already called and asked Judge Jackson and he told me to talk to you, to get your opinion, that you were the senior judge in Georgia. Judge Jackson thinks that the Vulcan is correct, and if all the _Enterprise_ Officers and the Admiral testify on Leonard's behalf it would make a big impression on any judge."

Winona could hear more talking from the comm, but could not make out the words. "Yes, Judge, Captain Kirk is Leonard's best friend. Yes I know he's a Federation hero, but I'm Joanna's mother! I know what's best for her." Now Winona could clearly hear the Judge's angry voice as he responded to Jocelyn; his voice so loud that Winona could hear every word.

"Now you listen here, Jocelyn," said the furious voice." I've known you since you were in diapers, and you've always been a spoiled brat, your mama and daddy spoiled you rotten. I don't know what beef you have with your ex-husband or why you would want to keep your daughter away from him because from what I've heard about him he's a good man. Let me be perfectly clear about this. There's no way that I or any other judge in Georgia would rule against him if he petitions the court for more custodial access to his child. If Captain Kirk, his officers, Admiral Nogura, _and_ the Vulcan Ambassador, all testify on his behalf, there's no judge in Georgia or anywhere else in the world who would rule against him. My best advice to you is to put your vendetta against him aside and do what's best for your child. Grow up, Jocelyn! Start behaving like an adult for a change, and don't call me again, or any other judge in Georgia. You hear me, girl?"

Winona heard Jocelyn's frustrated inhale. "Yes, I hear you! The whole damn hospital can probably hear you, Judge!" She huffed angrily. "Very well, it seems I have no choice. I'll speak to Leonard and see if we can come to some agreement without going to court. I certainly don't want to be made to look like a fool or have my face plastered all over the tabloids."

"You do that, Jocelyn; and don't you get uppity with me, girl, or I'll find you in contempt of court next time I see your face!" Winona heard the angry snap of the comm as the Judge hung up and Jocelyn's angry mutter as she closed her own comm. Winona quietly backed away from the room and went back up the corridor to wait for Joyce and Joanna. It would not do to have Jocelyn find out she had overheard the conversation. She tried to compose herself, but she could barely contain her glee and she couldn't wait to tell Leonard the news. She would wait here for Joanna and Ensign Root, and they would walk to Jocelyn's room together and hopefully, they would have a pleasant visit.

She didn't have to wait very long until she saw Joyce and Joanna walking towards her. Joanna was holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand and she skipped happily towards Winona.

"Noni, look what I got mama," she said gleefully, lifting her small hand to show her the flowers.

"They're beautiful, sweetheart. Mama will love them. Are you ready to see her?"

Joanna nodded.

"Now remember she's in bed, Joanna. She's feeling much better though, and she's going to be so happy to see you!" She knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in."

Winona opened the door and she pushed the child gently through; she and Joyce followed close behind.

"Mama!" The little girl's smile lit up the room and she ran to the bed and thrust the flowers up to her mother. "Here, Mama, I brought you some flowers."

Jocelyn leaned over. "Joanna! Oh my goodness! I'm so happy to see you, baby. Come up here on the bed and give mama a big hug."

The child climbed up and threw her arms around her mother. Jocelyn closed her eyes and held her close for a minute, kissing her soft cheeks. "Sit here, baby, by me." She kept her arm around Joanna as the child settled on the bed and looked at the two women standing silent by the bed.

Winona held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Winona Kirk. I'm taking care of Joanna while I'm here visiting my son." She took Jocelyn's cold hand in her own. "This is Ensign Joyce Root., Admiral Nogura has assigned her to help me with Joanna as a personal favor to Leonard. She has been shuttling us around San Francisco and has also very kindly helped me at the house with shopping and meals."

Jocelyn's eyes widened and Winona silently patted herself on the back. It wouldn't hurt Jocelyn to see tangible proof of the supposed regard that the Admiral had for Leonard.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kirk, for helping Leonard with Joanna," Jocelyn said, her eyes wide. "I understand he's very busy with other patients and his lab work."

"It's Dr. Kirk," Joyce corrected her, softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dr. Kirk, I didn't know you were a doctor."

"Not a medical doctor, Ms. McCoy, I have a doctorate in Xenobiology, and I consult for Star Fleet and sometimes for others in the Federation; and yes, Leonard has been very tied up with the cure for the Choriocytosis virus. His research has benefited many here on Earth and on Vulcan. Since I was coming here to visit with Jim, I offered to help Leonard with Joanna. I understand that you will have to stay in the hospital for a few more days and I'm happy to continue taking care of Joanna until you're dismissed."

"That's very kind of you, Dr. Kirk." Jocelyn's southern manners were on full display, Winona noted. There was no sign of the angry, bitter woman who had been on the comm just a few minutes ago. "Please sit down, both of you. The nurse told me I have physical therapy in a little while, but until then, I can enjoy Joanna's visit."

Winona and Joyce pulled up the two uncomfortable looking chairs and sat down. Joanna stayed on the bed by her mother's side and the little girl began telling her the things she had done since getting out of the hospital. She had just started on the story of her outing in Golden Gate Park when a light knock at the door stopped her.

"Come in." The physical therapist was expected and Winona knew they would have to leave when the therapist came in. She got up to move her chair back to where it had been.

The door opened and Spock, Leonard, and Jim walked in.

"Jim! Jim dear, you're back!" His mother's eyes shone as she drew him in for a hug.

"Hi Ma. Yes, we're back and our trip was very successful." He pulled back from the hug and gave her a significant look. She nodded in understanding.

"Daddy! Uncle Jim!" Joanna grinned at them, and jumped down from the bed and ran into McCoy's arms. "Daddy, Noni brought me to see mama."

"Well, now baby girl. That's mighty nice of Noni to do that for you." Leonard picked her up and grunted. "My goodness, you're getting heavy, young lady. Seems like you've put on a few pounds in the last couple of days. Must be all that junk food you ate at the park."

Joanna giggled. "No, daddy. Noni didn't let me eat junk food. We had a picnic and Noni and Miss Joyce brought all the food for us to eat. It was good, "she said. "I'm kinda' getting hungry again," she added.

Ensign Root came over to her. "Why don't Joanna and I walk to the cafeteria and I'll get her a snack."

"Thank you, Joyce. That's a good idea. I'll meet you at the entrance and then we'll head back to the house." Winona looked over to Jocelyn. "I believe your physical therapist is expected soon?"

Jocelyn nodded. "Come give me a kiss, baby, then you go on with Ensign Root. I'll see you later, okay?"

Joanna nodded and stood on her tiptoes to kiss her mother goodbye. Ensign Root took her by the hand and led her out the door.

After the door had closed behind them, Jocelyn looked at Leonard. "I've had time to think about what's best for Joanna, Leonard, and I've decided to go ahead and give you more custodial time with her. I'll have the papers drawn up so you can see her every time you're on Earth and during your leaves as well as any holidays that you can spend time with her."

"Thank you, Jocelyn." Leonard's voice was even, with no indication of his profound relief. "I really think it will be best for Joanna to see more of me, and I sure wanna' see more of her. Don't worry about hiring a lawyer though, Fleet has lawyers on retainer and I can get one of them to draw up the papers for us while I'm here. It won't take long, and you and your lawyer can look them over and approve them before we both sign and before you go back to Savanna; it won't cost you a cent."

Winona facing away from Jocelyn, standing with Jim's arm around her, looked up at him and rolled her eyes. His eyes crinkled but he kept a straight face.

There was a another knock at the door. The physical therapist stuck her head in. "Excuse me, Ms McCoy, but it's time for your physical therapy."

"We'll be going, Jocelyn," Leonard said. "One of us will bring Joanna back to see you later this evening and I'll check your progress again in the morning. See you later."

Spock and Jim nodded to her and they all left the room. Winona stood for a minute and smiled at Jocelyn. It's was her sweet, sunny smile that always melted hearts. "Joanna is a lovely child, Ms. McCoy. You've raised her beautifully; she has lovely manners and it's been a pleasure to take care of her. I know that it will make her and Leonard very happy to see more of each other. Please comm me at any time while you're still in the hospital if there's anything that you need, or if you think of anything more that I can do for Joanna." She took Jocelyn's hand and patted it gently. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Dr. Kirk. Thank you for all you're doing for Joanna."

Winona joined the three men waiting for her in the hallway and the four of them walked silently back to the entrance of the hospital. Ensign Root was not back with Joanna yet, so Jim filled his mother in on what had happened with Torrington. "Spock played his part beautifully, Ma. He should have gone into acting," Jim grinned at his First.

"Please, Captain, that is a gross exaggeration. I merely, as you would say, got into the part." Spock cast a disapproving look at his Captain.

"Anyway, Ma," Jim continued, ignoring him. "Torrington couldn't talk fast enough as soon as Spock touched his hand to his face. He broke right away he was so terrified of the idea of a mind meld. Gavin got the names of all the members of his cell and the location of their headquarters. We've drawn up a plan to raid the place and arrest all of them today."

"Jim!" Winona said, alarmed. "You're not going to be part of the raid, are you?"

"Of course I am, Ma. This is still a very secret operation. We're trying to contain this group without alerting the media or panicking civilians. It will be Gavin, three of Gavin's SIS team, Spock, me, and Ensign Connolly, who will also be armed, but his real mission is to extract all the data from their files." He looked at Winona's worried face. "Please don't worry, Ma. We'll be in body armor and well-armed."

"I'm goin' too, Jim."

"No, Bones. You're not trained for that kind of mission," Jim told him.

"It's my daughter they tried to murder, Jim. I'm goin' and that's all there is to it. You may need me if anyone is injured."

Jim looked at the stubborn glint in the blue eyes, and knew this would be a no win situation with Bones.

"Okay, then. Bones is going with us, Ma, as back up. He'll put on body armor too. They won't be expecting us and we'll take them by surprise and Torrington told us there are only 8 of them."

"When?" Winona asked through stiff lips.

Jim looked at his chronometer. "We're meeting at 4:00 and we'll beam in directly to the site."

They saw Joyce and Joanna coming towards them from the cafeteria. "We have to get back to Gavin and the Admiral, Ma. I'll comm you as soon as we get back." He kissed her cheek and turned to face the excited Joanna who was holding a half-eaten ice cream cone.

"All right, dear. Please be careful," she looked imploringly at Spock and McCoy. They both nodded understanding her unspoken plea to keep an eye on her headstrong son.

McCoy knelt in front of his daughter. "We're leaving for a little while, baby girl. You be good for Noni, and I'll see you this evenin' back at the house. Give me a kiss now, and give one to Uncle Jim and you go on with Noni and Ensign Root."

"Okay, daddy," the child said obediently and kissed her father. She stood on tiptoes as Jim leaned in for his kiss. "Bye, sweetheart," he said patting the curly brown head. "We'll see you later."

With one last lingering look at the three men as they walked away, Winona took Joanna's hand and they made their way out the door to the shuttle.


	24. Chapter 24

**,The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 24**

 **"And the end of all our exploring**

 **Will be to arrive where we started."**

 **T.S. Elliot**

At 3:00 pm Jim, Spock, and Bones joined the rest of the team in the Admiral's ready room. Gavin and his team were already there with padds in hand. The Admiral was sitting slightly away from the group. He stood as the Enterprise men came in and saluted him.

"At ease, everyone. Let's take a seat," Nogura said.

Gavin stood up as the Enterprise officers walked in. "Jim, Leonard, Mr. Spock, let me introduce you to the rest of my team." Three men stood to shake hands. "These are Lieutenants Peter Dobbs, Enrique Babayov, and William De Soto. You already know Lt. Connolly. Gentlemen, Captain James T. Kirk, Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Mr. Spock; Captain, CMO and First Officer, respectivly of the _Enterprise._ Let's sit down, gentlemen and we'll go over the ingress and egress plans.

He motioned to Lt. Connolly. "Sonnai was able to access the plans for the building where the terrorists have their headquarters. I've sent the blueprints to your padds so if you'll open the files we'll go over them."

Everyone looked at the blueprints and Gavin projected them on to the larger screen set up in the room.

"The building is two stories and it sits well away from other the buildings in the facility. Most of them are empty so there is little foot or shuttle traffic, which makes it a perfect place for the terrorists to hang out. According to Torrington, he purchased the building several years ago, and has modified the interior as needs arose. Besides the two stories, there is also a basement level where according to Torrington, they store their weapons cache. We'll have to make sure no one gets down there. The building is a no frills utilitarian building with low ceilings, narrow windows, and exterior doors at the entrance and exit. There is a main hallway on the first floor and all the rooms open to that hallway."

He pointed to the screen with his pointer. "The first floor is where the main meeting room is located and where the terrorists hang out. There is a small kitchen to the left as you enter, bathroom facilities in the next room, and going up the hall way, to your right are two rooms which hold cots and make shift beds that they use as needed. At the back of the main floor is the stair case that leads to the second floor. Please look at your blueprints for details of the interiors of the second floor, which Torrington says is empty. Behind the stair case is an additional room which we will talk about momentarily."

Any questions? No, then let's continue. Look at your maps and the hologram on the screen. Sonnai?"

"Aye, Commander" Lt. Connolly stood. "This room behind the staircase is the location of their computer system." He beckoned to the screen. "Could you enlarge this please, Commander?"

The projection grew, and Sonnai pointed with his stylus. The hologram changed to show the enlarged blueprints of the room. "Look here; this is a big room. At one time this was probably more than one room and used as offices, made smaller or larger with partitions. This is where the computer system is being housed. According to Torrington, it's a large system with several terminals and very sophisticated and expensive software. The Commander and I agree that my main priority is to extract all the files they've stored in the system, and then destroy it completely. Torrington also said there are years of accumulated Intel about Star Fleet, banks, ships, public transportation, etc. all very sensitive information."

Jim could hear that Sonnai's Gaelic accent was getting more pronounced than usual, the urgency and importance of his mission were weighing on him. "It's imperative that the system be destroyed after I copy all the files and that no one else will ever be able to access their Intel. SIS will go over everything with a fine tooth comb and see what further information we can extract. That's all I have right now." He sat down, taking a deep breath of relief now that his part was over.

"Thanks Sonnai," Gavin said. "We'll split up into two four men teams, and come in from the back and front entrances at the same time on my signal. We have the entry codes for the front and back doors from Torrington. Captain Kirk and I have them. We're about finished here, please take a few minutes to study your blueprints carefully and memorize them." He turned to Nogura. "Admiral, do you have anything to add?"

Nogura came to stand beside Gavin. "I can't stress enough how secret this mission is. If the media gets wind of the terrorist story, it could cascade into a panic. We have been fortunate that terrorism hasn't been an issue on Earth in over a century until now, and our citizens are serene in that knowledge." He looked soberly at the team. "If at all possible, I want to keep it that way." The men all nodded.

Nogura went on. "Let me update you on the medical aspect of this mission. All the afflicted patients have been told that it was a highly contagious though mild flu variant of the Choriocytosis virus and that it has been contained to just a few patients and everyone will recover completely." He turned to McCoy. "Doctor, your ex-wife has more information about her illness and the virus than any of the other patients. Of course she doesn't know about the terrorists, but she does know it was a more virulent form of Choriocytosis so you must insure somehow that her knowledge stays minimal. She and your daughter were the first to be infected and cured with the new vaccine and that's all I want her to know."

McCoy nodded in understanding. "Yes, Sir. So far she hasn't asked too many questions. I told her that her recovery was compromised because of the rhino virus in her system. I'll take care that no other information is available to her."

Nogura nodded. "Good luck, gentlemen. I have complete confidence that this mission will end in total success." He sat down.

Gavin stood up again. "That's all then. We will be beaming into the site in full body armor, phaser rifles, phasers and ear buds for communication. I'll give you a few more minutes to study the blueprints and then we'll adjourn to the next room and suit up. We'll beam out at precisely 4:00 pm.

The team walked into the smaller adjacent room which was laden with enough body armor, phaser rifles, phasers, and communication devices for all eight men. Jim and Spock were familiar with body armor, having used it on a couple of very dangerous away missions, but McCoy had never been part of those missions so it was new to him. It was not full armor which was cumbersome and difficult to maneuver in; this body armor was only for the torso, it covered the shoulders, back and front, and came down to just below the groin area. It left the arms and legs free, and therefore it was much easier to dodge, roll, and run if one needed to. Jim helped McCoy put the armor on and showed him how to clip the side and top fasteners. "Are you comfortable enough to move well in this Bones?" Jim looked him over carefully.

"It feels ok, Jim, stop worryin'. I'll be fine. This is good stuff here, should suit you up in it every time you go on an away mission. Would make my job a hell of lot easier," McCoy grinned at his Captain.

Jim smiled tightly, his hazel eyes worried. He shook his head in frustration. He was not happy that McCoy was going with them. Bones, like all Star Fleet officers was trained for combat, but he had a deep psychological prejudice against injuring or killing. Jim always tried his best to keep Bones from situations where he might have to do so, knowing full well what the guilt would do to him. This was going to be a very dangerous mission, but it was useless to protest again. He put on his own armor and poked at it. The armor was light and flexible yet extremely strong and could deflect phaser fire, Klingon bat'leths, spears, knives, and projectile weapons.

Once they were suited up, Gavin distributed the phaser rifles, stasis cuffs, and the new phasers. He showed them how to clip everything on to the body armor and after they finished, he checked everyone's armor to make sure they were properly suited up and armed. "Let's do a sound check," he said. He spoke quietly into his clipped communicator and the men nodded their heads. All of them could hear clearly through their ear buds.

"Looks like we're ready," Gavin said, after looking everyone over critically. "Let's get to the transporters."

The team beamed in right on target a ways back from the building. "Good work," muttered Jim to the unknown transporter tech whose pin point accuracy put them exactly where they wanted to be. They looked around and scanned the perimeter. It all looked exactly as Jim expected. Gavin motioned for his and Jim's teams to separate. Gavin and Sonnai and the two SIS members, Peter Dobbs and William De Soto would go in through the back door, and Jim, Spock, Bones, and Lt. Babayov would go in the front door. Jim motioned for his team to follow him to the front. The whole surrounding area was quiet and tranquil, the green expanse of lawn, side and back, totally empty of foot or vehicle traffic. No wonder the terrorists liked this area, it was virtually deserted.

They crouched down, staying close to the exterior wall, as they walked to the front to avoid being seen through the windows. Jim motioned to Spock, who went down on hands and knees and crawled to the corner of the building to check for a sentry on the small front porch. Sure enough, there was a man leaning nonchalantly against the porch railing and looking out at the quiet street. He looked totally relaxed. Spock raised his phaser, aimed and fired to stun; the sentry went down instantly without a sound. Spock motioned to Dr. McCoy and they crawled over and dragged the body over to the waiting Jim and Babayov and pushed him up against the wall. McCoy checked the terrorist over and his hypo was out and against the man's neck. He nodded to Jim. "He'll be out for at least 4 hours," he said.

"Good. That's one less to worry about," Jim said. "We're down to seven." He spoke quietly into his clipped communicator informing Gavin that one terrorist was down.

He heard Gavin's soft voice through his ear bud. "Ok, Sonnai, the sentry is down. You stay behind us as we go in. When we find the room with the computer system Dobbs and De Soto and I will flank you and then guard the outside of the room while you go in to extract the files and then destroy everything. We have to protect all the data at all costs."

"Jim," Gavin said softly, "you and your team stand down until I give the signal. Sonnai will be as quick as he can. We don't want to alert the terrorists until he's finished."

"Copy that," Jim said, and motioned to his team to crouch down to wait.

Gavin punched in the door code and he, Dobbs, and Desoto entered the building quietly, cautiously. They looked around; no one was in the hall. He beckoned Sonnai to come in and they opened the first door to the right; nothing. Gavin opened the door on the left and they hit the jackpot. The room was filled with electronic equipment and computer consoles. "Go Sonnai!"

Sonnai looked around. "This is very expensive sophisticated equipment here," he murmured admiringly. "'It's a real shame to destroy it; we could probably learn something from it. I could maybe adapt parts of it for SIS use. Now, I wonder where they hid the input to this main terminal,' he muttered.

 **"** Hurry up, Sonnai. Don't stop to admire it, copy the files and get rid of it!" Gavin told him suppressing a smile at Sonnai's admiration of all technology.

Sonnai's hands flew across the main console with ease, quickly copying all the files to his portable drive and disabling the systems in record time. "It's done, Commander." He nodded at Gavin who nodded back. Sonnai brought up his phaser rifle, put it on silent and blasted the consoles walking up and down in front of them until they were all melted and rubble. He sighed. He really would have loved to have disassembled the system to discover its secrets.

Gavin spoke quietly into his clipped communicator. "Jim, Sonnai is finished. Let's move in and get this mission finished. "It's the second door to your right our left," he whispered. "Stun first, ask questions later. All phasers on heavy stun, people, we won't use the rifles unless we have to. Let's go."

Jim and his team crouched down and went up on the porch; he keyed in the door code. It opened silently. They stepped into the dim room; the only light coming in through the large window was the diffused San Francisco foggy, gloomy one. He and the team walked silently down the corridor; they could hear the faint murmur of voices in the middle room even through the closed door. On the opposite side of the hallway, he could see Gavin and the three SIS officers coming through the door and toward Jim and his team, silently, stealthily, phaser rifles in hands.

Gavin silently pointed to himself and Jim; they would go in first followed by the rest of the men. He raised his fist and raised three fingers, then two and one!

They burst into the room, phasers out, setting on stun, and opened fire at the door. Jim caught glimpses of a semicircle of stupefied faces seated in front of several holo viewers as they turned in shock to him. The silver phasers strapped to their waists shone weirdly blue-black in the glow of the holo screens. Then his awareness narrowed to the urgent need to stun and subdue the terrorists.

The scream of phasers set on heavy stun echoed in the small room. The two teams, some standing, and some kneeling, fired and the terrorists' bodies thudded to the floor unconscious. He counted hurriedly. Five plus the sentry were accounted for. At least two possible three were not. Even as he counted, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two more men running in from the hall. Bones had already holstered his phaser and was leaning down with his tricorder checking the unconscious men on the floor. The doctor had beckoned to Spock to help him move the unconscious bodies. Quicker than he could react, Jim saw one of the running men raise his phaser and aim it at the kneeling McCoy; he fired his weapon! Then faster than the eye could follow a knife came flying across the room. The blade hit the terrorist in the arm holding the phaser; he howled, dropped his phaser and clutched at his arm. Spock had thrown his boot knife with deadly accuracy.

Jim ran to Bones. "Bones! Bones, are you alright? Bones!"

Bones looked down at his chest in shock. The body armor was scorched, but intact, he could still feel the warmth of the phaser fire on his skin through his shirt. He felt Jim's hands on him patting him frantically.

"Bones!"

He looked up at the worried hazel eyes. "Jim, Jim, I'm fine. The phaser didn't do any harm. The body armor did its job." He looked up and patted one of Jim's hands. "Go on, now. I'm fine, finish the job. I've got unconscious men here to deal with!" McCoy said, not budging. The doctor nodded over to Spock in thanks then bent back to his task.

Jim patted McCoy's shoulder, relieved. Over his head he saw the last man from the hallway fall to the floor. Spock stood and calmly went to the still standing wounded terrorist who was clutching his arm and lifted his sleeve. He ignored the cursing and snarling and calmly extracted the boot knife from the fleshy bicep and the man yelled at the pain. The wound was bleeding profusely.

"Dr. McCoy, I believe you have another patient."

McCoy left the fallen men and went to Spock's side. "Let me see, Spock," he said. He ran his tricorder over the arm. "Flesh wound, he'll be fine. Good aim, Mr. Spock."

"Thank you, doctor. I did not want him to interrupt your ministrations to the unconscious men."

McCoy snorted and looked at Jim. 'They'll all be fine. You can cuff them now."

"Are you sure you're alright, Bones?" Jim, still a little gun shy after the events on Sonsara, scanned him again.

"I'm fine, Jim. Stop worrying."

Lt. Babayov went out to the hall and up the stairs phaser still drawn to check the rest of the building, and De Soto went down to the basement to do the same. They soon came back. "All clear upstairs," Babayov said.

De Soto came back, looking sober. "There's an armory down there. Enough weapons there for 20 men."

Gavin spoke into his communicator and looked up. "Security will be here shortly to confiscate all the weapons. They'll beam straight down to the basement and out from there. It wouldn't do for anyone to see a load of weapons being carried out of here."

Soon all eight men, hands and feet restrained by the stasis cuffs, were laid side by side in the center of the room. Gavin spoke into his com. "Eight prisoners to beam out, Chief; have security put them in individual holding cells," he said and they all watched the terrorists disappear.

"They're gonna' be surprised when they wake up," McCoy said.

Sonnai inhaled sharply. "Commander, Captain, there were plans for another attack on the computer," he told them. "Looks like we broke this up just in time."

Jim drew in a deep breath in relief. It was over. The terrorist cell was destroyed, their Intel copied and for all practical purposes their mission was over. It had ended on a much better note than many of Jim's other missions. No one had died, the infected patients were on the road to recovery, Bones and Joanna had a few days together, and Jim hoped to spend a little quality time with his mother catching up on Riverside news. Debriefing with the Admiral had to take place, but that would wait until tomorrow after Gavin's initial report to Nogura today.

Gavin's communicator beeped and he tilted his head. "The weapons are gone," he reported.

"Time to go home," Jim said.

Gavin nodded and spoke into his clipped on comm unit. "Eight to beam out. Take us home, Chief."

The transporter took them.

* * *

 **Chapter 25 will be an epilogue.**


	25. Chapter 25

**The Joanna Protocol**

 **Chapter 25**

 **Epilogue**

" **Our revels now are ended. These our actors,**

 **As I foretold you, were all spirits and**

 **Are melted into air, into thin air:"**

 **The Tempest**

 **William Shakespeare**

Jim closed his communicator after speaking with Mr. Scott. The crew was enjoying shore leave on the Jupiter Space Station and they would wait there happily until Jim, Bones and Spock could rejoin them. All was well on the _Enterprise_ and he could relax for the rest of his stay. He heard happy voices in the kitchen and made his way to join the group. Nogura had given them the weekend off, and the Admiral was coming for his promised dinner this evening.

He walked into the kitchen to see Joanna standing on a chair washing vegetables and Bones, in an apron, chopping them. His mother turned and gave him a smile. "Everything all right with the ship, dear?"

"Everything's just fine, Ma. What are you all making?"

"I don't know Jimmy, I'm just a helper here," said McCoy, eyes intent on his precise chopping; his surgeon's hands making quick, neat pieces of the assembled vegetables.

"I'm helping too, Uncle Jim." Joanna grinned up at him.

"I see you are, sweetheart, but what is it?"

"It's for Admiral Nogura's dinner this evening." Winona told him. "It's a melted Feta cheese and vegetable bake. It has olive oil, basil, parsley, garlic clove, white onion, spring onion, bell pepper, sweet tomatoes, half a fresh jalapeno, olives, mushrooms, assorted veggies, and mixed herbs; everything that Spock can eat. I want him to enjoy the dinner too. I thought we could go out for lunch, what do you think Jim?" She looked at her chronometer.

Jim smiled at his mother. She had a special fondness for Spock. She would never forget his care of Peter during the hostage crisis and his time at the farm in Riverside last Christmas.1

"Going out for lunch will be great. And as for dinner, Spock will certainly enjoy it Ma. He says, and I quote, "your mother is a very proficient cook;" high praise indeed. Admiral Nogura is in for a treat and so are the rest of us."

Winona glanced at her chronometer again and looked out of the kitchen window.

"Expecting someone, Ma?" Jim asked.

"Yes, dear. I'm expecting Ensign Root. I invited her to spend the day with us and stay for dinner."

"That was nice of you, Ma."

The doorbell rang. Bones and Joanna looked up from their vegetables.

"Would you get that, Jim? It's probably Joyce. I hope she can go to lunch with us."

Jim went to the door and opened it.

"Hi Uncle Jim! Surprise!" Peter's excited happy face greeted him. Behind Peter stood a smiling Violet with Davy in her arms.

"Hi there, Jim!"

"Jim, Jim," Davy crowed reaching his little arms to Jim.

An astonished Jim automatically took him in his arms. "Peter! Violet! Davy!" He kissed the excited baby and then he was engulfed in hugs from Peter and Violet. "What are you doing here?" He turned to find his mother, Spock, Bones and Joanna behind him, all of the grinning (except for Spock of course). "Winona Kirk, are you responsible for this surprise," he asked, not moving an inch from the arms encircling him. He held Davy with one arm and hugged Violet and Peter to him. "I can't believe it!" His hazel eyes shone with joy as he gave Davy back to Violet and he reached out to hug his mother, never taking his other arm away from Peter. "How did you make this all happen, Ma?"

"Well, it took a little work," said Winona, her dimple prominent. "Peter was very disappointed that he couldn't come with me, and then I talked it over with Gavin and he was very anxious to see Violet and Davy after your mission and so was I, of course, and I knew you'd love to see them too. Gavin and I talked to Violet and she said she would pick up Peter at Marie's and they would all come for the weekend in her shuttle. Peter is staying with us here, he can sleep on the sofa, and Violet and Davy are staying with Ensign Root. She borrowed a baby bed from one of her friends and her roommate is on assignment so it all worked out beautifully." Winona sighed happily. "It's going to be so much fun having everyone here." She looked up at her son. "Are you happy, darling? I wanted it to be a surprise for you."

Jim dropped a kiss on the soft curly head. "So happy, Ma. Thank you, it's perfect. Only you could pull off something like this." He bent to pick up Peter's luggage. "Come in everyone." He looked down at the covered carrier that Peter was holding. "Squirt, did you bring Sorrel too?"

Peter grinned. "Yep. He would've been lonely, Uncle Jim, and he wanted to see you too. Noni said he could come."

"I see," said his Uncle, looking down at the spoiled kitty and he laughed. "Well if Noni said so, that's the way it has to be. Bring him in, just one more to join the party."

He nudged Bones. "Did you know about this? And you, Spock?"

Spock's eyes twinkled and he nodded. "I did."

"Yes siree, we all knew, Jimmy. Even Joanna, right baby girl?"

Joanna nodded. "I kept a big secret, Uncle Jim. Daddy and Noni told me I wasn't s'posed to tell you, and I didn't," she said proudly.

Jim shook his head, mock frowning at her. "You sure didn't, baby girl. I didn't suspect a thing." He ruffled her hair, and she giggled.

He put Peter's luggage by the sofa and Peter opened the cat carrier to let Sorrel out. Violet's and Davy's luggage, along with the crib, would stay in the shuttle until they got to Joyce' Root's quarters.

"Violet, I'm so glad you were able to come. Davy looks like he's grown a foot!" Jim said as he looked at the happy toddler sitting by Peter and Sorrel. "I've been hearing a lot about you from Gavin," he teased her.

A soft pink color came to Violet's cheeks. "Are you kidding? When Winona commed me, I couldn't say yes fast enough. It's wonderful to see you, to be here with all of you again." She sighed. "I miss all my friends in Riverside, Jim, and I miss your mom most of all."

"I know, Violet. I miss everyone too, but we both have a job to do, and Ma understands that better than anyone."

The front door opened again and Gavin came in with Joyce Root. "Gavin!" Violet ran to him and he held her close, dropping a light kiss on her lips. Davy shrieked. "Gabin, Gabin!" He ran to him on unsteady legs and Gavin got down on his haunches to grab the running baby.

"There's my Davy!" Gavin said, kissing the blond curls. He stood holding Davy with one arm, the other tight around Violet.

"Now there's a pretty picture," McCoy said to Winona.

She smiled softly. "It's wonderful that they've found each other after all they've been through. Violet lost her husband so young and she's coped beautifully being a single mother. Gavin is a wonderful person. He deserves all the happiness in the world and so do she and Davy." She glanced at her son and sighed softly. She hoped that one day Jim would find someone who would love him as he deserved to be loved. He was such a good man, so loving and affectionate with Peter and Joanna. He would make a wonderful father.

McCoy followed her glance and smiled in understanding. "Hold that thought, Winona. Jim knows better than to entangle himself permanently with anyone right now. His ship and his crew are what drives him right now; but maybe someday it'll happen."

"I hope so Leonard."

She moved to join the circle and was hugged and kissed by Violet, Davy, and Gavin. She turned to Joyce. "Thank you, Joyce."

"My pleasure, Winona. I'm already having a great time with Davy. He's a darling baby."

There was catching up conversation among the adults, play time for Peter with Davy and Sorrell, and then Jim made it a point to take Peter aside for a short walk and some quiet conversation. He was happy to see that Peter was happy and healthy; enjoying school, his friends and the farm chores; happy that he was able to talk about and remember his life with Sam and Aurelan without obvious pain. In short, Peter was doing great thanks to his mother and the other adults who loved and cared about him.

Soon enough it was time for lunch. Joyce and Gavin suggested the Fisherman's Warf area; they could eat at the historic San Francisco Waterfront PIER 39 which was still going strong after a couple of centuries and which had many restaurants. There was also parking available at the PIER 39 Garage for the two shuttles they would need to take.

They landed the shuttles and walked along the pier before deciding on a restaurant. They took turns carrying Davy who kept wanting to be put down so he could walk with Peter. After lunch they went back to the house and Joyce and Gavin took Violet and the protesting Davy off to get settled in Joyce's quarters. Davy would need a nap before the dinner this evening.

Jim, his mother and Peter, had a great afternoon. It was so good to spend time with them and he could tell his mother was very happy to have the two people she loved best with her. Winona had baked an apple pie and they all had dessert and coffee mid-afternoon. Spock and Bones came to the table to share the pie bounty. Bones sighed happily at the sight of the apple pie with ice cream on top.

"Winona darlin' this is the life, it looks delicious. Can't wait to dig in.

Jim looked up and frowned at Bones' 'darling', but for the moment he let it go since the children were present. Spock ate his precisely and methodically and Peter and Joanna finished theirs in 5 minutes.

"As always, it's delicious, Ma" Jim said. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now all of you shoo. I have to start dinner. Remember we're hosting an Admiral this evening. Spock and Leonard I'd like some help with setting the table and Jim if you wouldn't mind going out to get some good wine, I'd appreciate it."

"Spock and I are glad to help, Winona."

"I'll get right on it, Ma. Squirt, you want to go with me?"

"Sure, Uncle Jim. I'd like to if I can leave Sorell with Noni."

"You go with your uncle, Peter. Sorrel will be just fine."

Jim and Peter walked to the grocery store a couple of blocks away from the house and Jim picked out several bottles of good wine after consulting with the wine clerk. It was a beautiful day in San Francisco, cool and sunny and they enjoyed the brisk walk together.

At 6:45 the kitchen smelled wonderful, the table was set, and everyone was dressed. The men had opted for civilian wear and Peter, Joanna and Winona had on their Sunday best. The doorbell rang; Jim answered it and found Joyce, Gavin, Violet and Davy at the door.

Winona sent the children off to her room to play with Davy and Sorell and Bones and Spock passed around drinks and appetizers. The doorbell rang again to admit Admiral Nogura. He too had opted for civilian wear, which made the atmosphere much more relaxed.

"Thank you for inviting me, Dr. Kirk. I have been looking forward to this. I've heard about your wonderful cooking," he told her.

Winona's dimple came to the fore. "I hope you enjoy everything, Admiral. Just remember that the accolades come from four very hungry and home cooking deprived men," she laughed.

"Winona, that's not true. I'm neither deprived nor a man, and I can assure you Admiral, her cooking is outstanding. Just ask anyone of Jim's friends in Riverside. Winona fed us for years while we were in school." Violet's brown eyes twinkled with glee as she remembered those happy days.

In a few minutes, Winona excused herself and Jim followed her to the kitchen.

"Do you need any help, Ma?"

"Just carry this in for me, dear," she said pointing to the big baking dish. "I'll bring in the rest."

Winona announced dinner and Violet came to the table to put Davy in his portable high chair by her side. Peter and Joanna sat side by side, Jim and Winona at either end, the Admiral to Winona's right, and the rest scattered themselves along the big table. Jim stood. "I'd like to propose a toast," he said. "First, to the successful completion of our mission," he said meeting the Admiral's eyes.

"Hear hear!" everyone said.

"To my mother," he said looking at her lovingly. "Thank you for coming to help Bones' Ma, and for arranging to have Peter, Violet and Davy here this weekend, and thank you for cooking this great dinner for all of us."

Everyone raised their glasses. "To Winona."

Winona's cheeks pinked. "Thank you, everyone. It's a joy to have you all here."

"Noni! Noni!" Davy yelled, and everyone laughed.

Jim looked around the table at his friends and family with a deep sense of contentment and satisfaction. "Time to eat!" he said grinning at them and they did.

* * *

 **1** **See "Hostages" and "A Riverside Christmas Mystery"**

 **As always my thanks go out to my friend Carol who helps me so much with proofing the chapters. Thank you, Carol!**


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